Windswept
by Ceridwen-sama
Summary: AU. After Haruno Sakura meets Uchiha Sasuke in an alley at a party, she couldn't get him off her mind. But when he works his way into her life, she becomes drawn into the world of the Uchiha Family. SasuSaku
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **_Hi guys! So I wasn't going to post this story until _after_ I finished Beware the Trap of Love, however, I've been very excited to post this story for months. I have planned and written for about seven months now, and I have only gotten to chapter nine! so I have defiantly put a lot of thought into this story. As far as how good my stories go, I have to say that this one will be my best yet. I have gone through with a fine-toothed comb to make sure the spelling and grammar are to the best of my abilities. _

_This is the most complicated story that I have ever written, and I spend a lot of my time researching the topics that I have written about in here. I spent a lot of time on Google, making sure that the information is correct. If you, by chance, come across information that you know to be wrong, or you have more information to give me, please feel free to PM me, I would greatly appreciate it. _

_If you enjoy the prologue, and would like to see more, please review, I'll take the time to read each one of the reviews I get, and depending if you guys like it, I'll most likely post the first chapter before I post the next chapter of Beware the Trap of Love. Once this story starts kicking into action, I should update every week on_ **Sunday**_, __and if I don't post on Sunday, that would be due to having a life outside of FanFiction, my exams, and I'll be entering year ten next year, or I need to play catch up with the chapters. I want to at least stay five or six chapters ahead so I don't fall behind and keep you guys waiting._

_I hope you enjoy the prologue to Windswept. _

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**Prologue**

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He came back.

He came back and he was still wearing his black boots with the metal heel on the end and he had the belt-like whip in his left hand. Two other men were with him, they had dark, mean looks on their faces.

I hid underneath the table, the white tablecloth just covering me so I couldn't be seen. I put my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to drown out the noises and trying to block out the images of my mother getting hit; they just wouldn't go away.

The man repeated the same words over and over as the sound of his whip and the screams of my family echoed around the dead and quiet neighborhood. I tried to keep silent, just like father told me too.

_I told you if you didn't stay away, I'd hurt you. I told you if you didn't stay away, I'd hurt you. I told you if you didn't stay away, I'd hurt you. I told you if you didn't stay away, I'd hurt you._

When I couldn't hear the sounds anymore, I opened my eyes and stared at the floor, still not moving. Just when I was about to crawl out from under the table, loud, thumping footsteps walked towards me, I could see the man's black boots with the metal heel on the end walk closer to me and when he stopped right in front of the table, I held my breath.

He reached down and lifted the tablecloth up, he bent down, so his knees were on the floor. My obsidian eyes went wide as he bent down further and looked right at me, green snake-like eyes looked me over once before an evil grin spread across his face. I inched back, scared, but he reached out his hand and grabbed the collar of my t-shirt, pulling me out from under the table.

I kicked and screamed and shouted frantically, scared of what was going to happen to me. He chuckled loudly, evilly, scarily at me, before cracking his whip with a loud swish over my shoulder and onto my back.

I screamed.

_This is going to be torture for you. This is going to be torture for you. This is going to be torture for you. This is going to be torture for you. This is going to be torture for you._

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**_Author's Note: _**_It's short, but it's a prologue, so it's not suppose to be very long, but please, tell me what you think of it in a review. _

_Thank you lovelies, ja ne! _


	2. Unexpected Meeting Place

**Author's Note:** _Okay, now, with some careful thinking, and some persuasion from my inner-writers mind, I decided that this story would be more appealing to readers if the real first chapter was actually up so everyone could get the drift (quiet literally) about what this story is about. So, I decided, why not? I mean, maybe readers would want to review if they actually had more than just this little prologue at the beginning, ya know? and I thought, instead of waiting until Sunday, like how I planned, I thought I do it now while I have some spare time. _

_So this is actually the first chapter. I suppose this story will be pretty fast paced, but not too fast, I wanted to slowly work my way up to the action in this story, have it a little more structured, because I already have an outline of what I'm doing, and I think I've done a really good job at pacing it to the way I wanted, lets just hope you guys agree. _

_Anyway, on with the story. This will _all _be in Sakura's point of view, and when I'm at the very last chapter, I'll let the readers vote on which chapter they want done in Sasuke's view, and another chapter that want done in another characters view. _

_Please enjoy the first chapter of Windswept. _

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**Chapter One: Unexpected Meeting Place**

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I stood awkwardly in the corner, my back pressed against the wall and my hands holding my messenger bag tightly to my chest. My viridian eyes scanned the many faces in the room and when I didn't recognize any of them, I immediately just stopped looking.

Why _did_ I even agree to go to this party with Ino?

I watched as a guy who was clearly intoxicated slant past me, his steps were a little wobbly and his back was bent a little too far back to be natural; he had a twisted smile on his face, his eyes looked droopy and far away, in his left hand, he held a beer bottle that appeared half full and in his right hand, he held what looked like to be a girl's underwear.

I almost gagged.

His blue eyes glanced at me from his side vision and I wished he would ignore me like everyone else had done for the last hour, but he didn't, he stopped in his slanted walking and backtracked so he could walk towards me. I watched as he leaned against the wall and stared at me, giving me what he must have thought was an attractive smile.

"Haay.." his words were dragged out and bubbly.

I gave him a look, but didn't say anything, hoping he'd get the message. He leaned forward and took a strand of my pink hair that ended at the base of my neck in his hand and twisted it around with his fingers, his right hand had ditched the underwear onto the floor so his hand could be put to other use. I quickly turned my head, I didn't want his filthy hands to touch any part of my body. Even my hair.

He opened his mouth to say something, but I already knew what he was going to say, so I answered his unspoken questions with a brisk and firm "No."

His smile instantly dropped, but he tried again, so blue orbs sparkling with determination. "C'mon, bebeh, you know you wanna." he spoke, a loud hiccup finished afterwards and it made me question just how drunk he was.

I needed to get out of here.

"I said no."

With that, I put the strap of my messenger bag over my shoulder and it cut across my chest. I pushed past the guy who had tried to stand in front of me, and walked quickly towards the back door which I knew led into an alley. I had to push past countless people to get to my destination, but I didn't care, as long as I got out. I pushed the door open and stepped out, the cold air assaulting my lungs. I took the chilled oxygen gratefully. My stomach instantly calmed, the horrible smells that rushed around the massive area no longer attacked me.

I turned so I could walk out of the alley when a hand landed on my shoulder. Instead of turning around, I swung my elbow into my attackers stomach and when I heard the surprised gasp of air leave his mouth, I pulled my shoulder out of his grasp and turned around, my hands forming fists in front of my face, ready to punch whoever tried to attack me in the face.

However, instead of a huge man cloaked in black with a mask and a gun, a guy about my age, maybe a little older stood there, a well-fitted black tee-shirt covered his chest, and he wore black jeans and a pair of navy blue Chucks; he was tall, about 6'1, with messy black hair that stuck up at the back and his bangs framed his face, coming down to just below his chin, his hair slightly covered his forehead, but not much; his eye colour was dark obsidian with light specks of gray and red in them, they were cold and hard looking and I couldn't read his expression as he didn't have one on his face, but his features began to twist in annoyance, probably from me hitting him in the gut.

"I am so sorry!" I practically shouted at him, my voice a little too high-pitched for my liking. "I thought you were someone trying to attack me so I just did what my self-defense teacher taught me!"

The guy in front of me raised a slender eyebrow, the corner of his mouth lifted up slightly in a little smirk and I found my eyes drawn to his mouth, but I quickly looked back into his eyes and glared darkly at him.

"Hn." he grunted, shrugging his shoulders.

I blinked at him, bewildered.

"How am I suppose to translate that?!" I shouted, clearly frustrated at this stranger in front of me.

First he appeared out of nowhere in a dark alley, then he puts his hand on my shoulder, scaring the shit out of me, and now he's grunting at me. _Grunting!_ I haven't even been in his presence for five minutes, I don't even know this guy — although he looks oddly familiar — and he's already annoyed me.

"Translate it however you want," his voice was deep and rustic with a slight undertone that made me want to shiver. "I just wanted to know why you rushed out of the party so fast."

"Oh." I deadpanned, feeling kinda embarrassed. "My friend — who I came here with — ditched me and this guy was way too intoxicated and he was trying to hit on me and made me feel really uncomfortable." I paused, wringing my hands together, a habit I've had since I was seven. "Plus the smell of alcohol, sweat and smoke was messing with my head. Why are you out here?"

He watched me for a moment, his eyes roaming over my body and for a second there, I swore he wanted to pounce on me. His eyes lingered on my hair for a good thirty seconds before his beautiful obsidian eyes returned to looking at my face. "Parties aren't really my thing." he spoke with a shrug, his broad shoulder lifting up slightly in a board and relaxed way.

"Then why are you at one?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest when I saw his eyes cast down towards that general area. Quite frankly, this guy intimidated me and the uncanny familiarity he possessed freaked me out; I swear I've seen him before.

"Same reason as you."

I nodded my head in understanding and walked over to the wall near the door I came out of just ten minutes ago and leaned my back on the cold stone before sliding down to the ground and hugging my knees to my chest. Unlike Ino, I decided to stick to my usual jeans, but instead of a sweatshirt or hoody, I chose to wear an open V-neck blue shirt that fit me perfectly; it had the words 'Suck It' written in white on the bottom left corner of my shirt in big, bold letters.

The familiar stranger glanced at me, then at the door, his arms folded over his chest. "Aren't you worried your friend will leave you here?" his voice interrupted the two-minute comfortable silence.

"It wouldn't be the first time she left me at a party.." I mumbled, my viridian eyes trailing over to look at him. I looked at him more closely through my eyelashes and saw a dark frown on his face.

"It's not safe to be out by yourself."

"You're telling me."

He walked over to me and slid down next to me on my left. His right leg was stretched out, and his hand was resting on his thigh, while his left leg was bent, his arm resting on it. He looked so casual and calm and collected as he sat next to me, his body heat and dominance radiating off him in waves that sent me reeling. All I wanted to do was lean my head against his shoulder and wrap my arms around him.

Shaking my head, I cleared the thought out of my mind, feeling my cheeks burn a light red. I have never thought about a boy like that — a stranger no less. Wanting to break the silence, I said the first thing that came to my head. "You look awfully familiar, do I know you?"

"I'm a senior at Konoha High. I'm on the swim team, and captain of the track team?" he said, his voice smooth and rustic, that slight undertone leaving his voice a little. It was like he was trying to jog my memory.

I thought about it. TenTen kept up with all the sport teams at school, I think she's mentioned once or twice the name of the captain of track team.. if only I could remember the name...

"You're Uchiha Sasuke?" I asked, shock, fascination and giddiness clear in my voice as those three words left my lips.

The corner of his mouth twitched up slightly again, as he leaned his head against the wall before giving me a sideways glance. "So you do know me." A hint of cockiness showed in his otherwise monotone voice.

"Yeah, my friend, TenTen, has a thing for keeping up with all the sports teams at school, we all know it's only because she has a thing for Hyuuga Neji." I said, smiling softly at the thought of my flustered brown-haired friend as she talked animatedly about the Hyuuga.

Sasuke smirked next to me. "Are you going to tell me your name?" he asked, his voice demanding but he tried to make it sound like a question at the last second.

"Haruno Sakura." I whispered, pulling my knees closer to my chest.

"Sakura.." my name rolled off his tongue like it was made for him to say; it sent a shiver down my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and my stomach contracted, flipping with obvious butterflies.

His phone buzzed and he reached into his back pocket to get it, he looked down, telling me he had gotten a text. "Shit." He mumbled under his breath, tapping at his phone for a minute, he stood up quickly and put his hand out in front of me. I stared at his hand for a long minute, stupidly wondering why he was doing so.

"The police are on the way." he said seriously. "Do you want to get caught?" I shook my head, "Then come with me, I can take you home."

Unsure, I stared at his hand again, biting my bottom lip hard until I tasted blood.

Sasuke sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, my friend has the car keys, I'll walk you home." He spoke with a frustrated edge to his voice.

I nodded my head in a silent 'okay' before reaching up and taking his hand. When his skin touched mine, I felt that clichéd spark of electricity run up my arm, and I knew the same thing happened with Sasuke, because he quickly pulled his hand away from mine once I was up on my feet.

I turned around to face the door when it slammed open, and about two hundred people came rushing out of the tiny door. I felt Sasuke wrap his hand around my arm and pull me out of the way before the crowd could crush me in the process. I yelped loudly when he pulled me forward, my legs barely able to keep up with his brisk walking.

"Hey hey,_ slow down_ will you! I can't keep up!" I screeched, pulling my arm out of his grasp.

"Sorry," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck when we rounded the corner.

I sighed, before looking left then right. "My house is that way." I said, tilting my head to the right, my feet starting to walk at an even and comfortable pace.

Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and walked slowly after me, catching up with me in four long strides. We walked together in silence for a good four blocks and it was comfortable. I was slightly nervous. This was_ Uchiha Sasuke _who was walking me home, it's not everyday a girl can say she's had said hot senior walk her back to her house from a party.

"What's it like being a senior?" I suddenly asked. I could have spoken about anything to try to start a conversation, but I had to start with being a senior at school?

I wanted to slap myself.

Sasuke's lips lifted up at the corner of his mouth and I found my eyes drawn to his mouth again; something about the way the side of his lips twitched made me get all jittery and bothered. I had to restrain myself from thinking less-than innocent thoughts about places I wanted his mouth to be on me.

I was a virgin, and never really liked participating in anything sexual, but that doesn't mean I don't know anything about the topic.. I read.

"Same as being a junior." he shrugged. "Nothing really special about it. Why?"

It was my turn to shrug. "In nine months time, I'll be a senior, just wanted to know."

Sasuke nodded his head and we went back into a comfortable silence. I felt his arm brush against mine a few times, and every time it did, that same clichéd spark ran through my body, making me feel warm and fuzzy and electrified. Did he feel the same thing? I didn't bother asking.

We stayed in silence for another good twenty minutes before a thought struck me.

"Wait a minute," I said as I stopped in my even walking. "Aren't your parents apart of the police force?"

"Yeah." Sasuke said simply.

"Wouldn't you be able to get out of getting arrested, then?"

Sasuke shrugged, and continued walking. I followed after him, taking my place at his side once again, I looked at him, waiting for an answer, only to receive a sideways look and a small smirk.

I nodded my head dejectedly, "I bet you would of gotten out of it and let me get arrested." I said jokingly.

"Probably." Sasuke chuckled.

"Then why didn't you?"

He shrugged again, choosing not to reply.

My heart fluttered at that, not sure if I should take his silence as he wouldn't of left me to get arrested, or he would, in fact leave me to the police. Why was the guy such an enigma, like, seriously?

When we came to my street, I sighed in relief. It was about two thirty and I was cold and tired and my feet hurt like I had just ran a marathon in high heels.

"This is me." I announced to Sasuke as I stopped out the front of my house. "Thanks for walking me home."

He nodded and followed me up to my door. My parents weren't home, they were hardly ever home, and when they were, I wouldn't see much of them because they'd either be sleeping or fighting, and those rare moments where we could actually sit down and have a meal with each other, it was always silent. I tried plenty of times to start a conversation, but it didn't last any longer than five minutes. I love my parents, but I don't really know them as well as I should. Especially my Mum.

"No problem, Sakura." his tongue rolled the 'r' in my name, making my insides melt and my skin flush a hot red.

I turned towards my door and unlocked it, and when I turned around to say bye, he wasn't there.

"Huh?" I said, spinning around on the spot. I used the illumination of the patio light to try to see him through the dark, but he had totally disappeared, leaving nothing but a small breeze behind him.

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**Author's Note: **_So, how is it? Is it good? Bad? Alright? Let me know in a review, please! _

_So, any ideas about how Sasuke disappeared just like that? All will be revealed in chapters to come. _

_Next chapter, other characters will be thrown into the fray. This story will be mostly centered on Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, so forgive me if other characters aren't around in the chapters enough. I try my hardest to put other characters into this story when it's needed. I'm not really gonna put heaps of useless stuff in here, like random days out, I want everything to flow smoothly. _

_Anyways, please review! Getting reviews makes me feel special and allows to understand how you readers feel about my story, so, please? _

_Thank you lovelies, ja ne! _


	3. Sakura, That's Uchiha Sasuke

**Author's Note: **_Hi all! I am back with the second chapter of Windswept! Yay, three cheers! _

_Right, I just wanna leave a quick note. The chapters may be seeming too short, I know this, however, like I said in the prologue, I'd like to take things semi-slowly. I don't want to overload the chapters with massive pockets of information and SasuSaku action. I feel too much will overload the story and take away my general idea for it. I hope you can all bear with me! The chapters will defiantly get longer as I work up to the good stuff, alright? _

_Now, I really hope you enjoy. _

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**Chapter Two: Sakura, That's Uchiha Sasuke**

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I sat in my second period class and stared out the window, watching as the wind blew the small blades of grass towards the east. I inwardly sighed and tapped my cheek with my index finger, my chin was resting on my palm and my elbow was on the table, my teacher droned on about something to do with science, but I paid her no heed, my was mind drifting off to somewhere else. I kept thinking back to that night in the alley with Uchiha Sasuke. I just couldn't wrap my head around how he disappeared so easily and without a sound; I was actually starting to think the whole thing was a part of my imagination. I spent the whole weekend just trying to think of reasonable explanations about how he got away so.. _effortlessly_.

The bell rang and I tore my eyes away from the peaceful scenery and my thoughts, quickly putting my books and pen in my messenger bag, I stood up from my desk, pushed my chair in and slung my bag over my shoulder, then to my side, cutting across my chest and resting at my hip. I brushed a strand of pink hair out of my face as I walked out of the classroom, following two other girls who were talking about their weekend. I wanted to scoff at what they were saying, finding it complete idiocy. How can sleeping with a bunch of guys and getting drunk be _fun_?

I drowned out the sounds of the two girls in front of me talking, I focused my gaze on the floor in front of me, my mind once again drifting off to my previous thought's of Uchiha Sasuke, his beautiful face flashing in my head, his deep, rustic voice drowning out all the other noises around me, his rough touch, his steady but piercing gaze.. _him_.

Dammit. This is not the time to be thinking about how hot he is. I'm never going to talk to him again anyway, I bet he's forgot all about me. Like, why would a guy like _Uchiha Sasuke_ want to be seen with a girl like me, boring, normal_ Haruno Sakura_? Sure, I have friends, friends that are known around the school, but I'm just the girl with the pink hair. I'm nothing special at all. I sighed dejectedly, my shoulders sagging.

An arm brushed against mine roughly and brought me out of my inner musings. Cursing inwardly, I lifted my head and turned around to say sorry to the person I bumped into, my mouth opening to say the familiar words, but they never made it past my lips. Standing in front of me was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, looking all god-like in his simple blue button-up that was rolled up to his elbows and black jeans along with the same navy blue Chucks from the party. My mouth parted and a small breath left my lips as he looked at me with those captivating obsidian eyes. My eyes darted to his mouth as the side of his lip twitched up in an all-knowing smirk.

"Sakura." he said, nodding his head at me once in greeting.

He actually remembered my name. Oh my gosh! Uchiha Sasuke remembered my name! While my inner was doing a little cheer, I realized that I actually had to answer him. Clearing my throat, I straightened up, nodding my head back at him. "Sasuke," I paused, wanting to say something more, but I held my tongue.

"Walk with me?" he asked as he started walking towards the cafeteria, the opposite direction he was going.

"Okay."

We walked down the hall in silence, it wasn't awkward, it was just that comfortable silence. I actually like being in silence with Sasuke, we don't need to have words, we're just comfortable in each others presence even though we really only had one conversation. If I was in this situation with anyone other than Sasuke, the air around us would have been very awkward and uncomfortable.

"I thought you wouldn't have remembered me." I said, wanting to say something to distract myself from all the stares I was getting from the other girls as Sasuke and I walked towards the cafeteria. I mean, I've never actually really _seen_ Uchiha Sasuke. I heard of him, and how good he looks and how smart he is, and how he's amazing at sports, I just never really_ looked_ at him and that's why I didn't recognize him.

"Do you think my memory is that bad?" he chuckled, turning his head briefly to look at me.

I played with the strap of my messenger bag nervously and glanced at the group of girls who were huddled around a door in the hall, they looked at me menacingly, probably plotting my death, before shifting my gaze back to Sasuke, who had his eyebrow raised. He glanced at the girls quickly and I heard them giggle than footsteps followed after, heading in the opposite direction to Sasuke and I.

"No, I don't think your memory is that bad," I said, glaring at him. "I just didn't think you'd remember the name of the girl you met in an alley at a party."

"Hn," he grunted, and looked forward again.

"You're back to the grunting?!" I raised my hands in the air. "I'm not even sure what I'm suppose to translate that too!"

Sasuke smirked at me, his cold gaze portraying amusement. He didn't say anything more as he pushed the door open to the cafeteria for me, and gestured for me to walk in, as I did, I instantly met the gaze of Ino, who waved enthusiastically at me, at the same time, Hinata glanced up, giving me her small, shy smile, followed by TenTen's chippy smile. Oh God, once they see Sasuke walk in after me, I'm gonna have a lot of questions to answer.

Just then, Sasuke walked in behind me, brushing his arm against mine, seeing my very nervous look, he turned to fully face me. "Are you alright? You look a very pale."

I tore my eyes away from my three best friends. I smiled up at him, "Yeah, I'm fine, just hungry and I have no money." It wasn't a total white lie, I really didn't have any money to buy anything, but I wasn't exactly hungry anymore.

"Here," he said, taking my hand in his. I felt that clichéd spark of electricity run up my arm again, causing my how body to tingle and my heart to beat super fast. "I'll buy you something."

He pulled me along towards the long line, pushing past people and making his way to the front. I blinked, my eyes focused on our intertwined hands. I glanced up at the boy at the front of the line, he must have been in the middle of ordering, and smiled apologetically at him. I could see all the people behind him glance at Sasuke and I, then to our hands. The boys raised an eyebrow, while most of the girls glared at me.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked me, looking down at me, his obsidian eyes never leaving my green orbs.

"Sasuke, you really don't have to—"

"You gotta eat, Sakura." he interrupted me.

Blinking, I only nodded my head. "Salad, with a coke."

"Can I please get a—"

I blocked out the noise around me and glanced back at the table where my friends were all gaping at me. I shrugged my shoulders, giving them a 'I'll-explain-soon' look, before turning my attention back to Sasuke who had just finished paying. He dropped my hand, and I was a little sad that he let it go, but he handed me my coke and a tray with a plastic bowl with my salad in it and a fork next to it. "Thanks." I whispered, turning around and carefully making my way towards my table when his hand landed on my shoulder. I turned back around, and looked up at Sasuke, raising an eyebrow at him questionably.

"I'm sorry for disappearing that night, it was very rude of me."

And with that, he stalked away.

I watched his back as he walked away from me, heading to the very back table where all his other friends were. A blonde kid with tanned skin and blue eyes — who I knew as Uzumaki Naruto, Hinata's crush — gave me a knowing grin then turned back to the others at the table.

Confused, I made my way towards Ino, Hinata and TenTen, who were staring at me wide-eyed. I placed my drink and tray on the table across from my friends, sat down in my seat, and stared at them. We sat in a good silence for about five minutes, during that time, I managed to eat some of my salad, courtesy of Sasuke buying for me, and drank at least half my bottle of coke.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Ino finally asked, her wide blue eyes blinking at me again.

"Sakura, that was _Uchiha Sasuke_." TenTen told me, like I didn't already know that bit of information.

"S-S-Sakura, he br-brought you lun-lunch." Hinata said, her stuttering worse than what it normally was.

Putting down my fork, I looked up at them. "I know," I swallowed what was left of the cherry tomato in my mouth and leaned back in my chair, folding my arms over my chest. Realizing that I still had my messenger bag on, I quickly took it off and put it on the table next to me. "You probably want to know why he was talking to me, right?"

"Hell yeah!" TenTen and Ino practically shouted, while Hinata just nodded her head so vigorously I swore it could fall off her shoulders.

"Remember that party you took me too last weekend, Ino?" she nodded her head. "Well, after you _ditched_ me, I stood in a corner for an hour, before this guy tried to hit on me, that's when I made my escape to the back door that led to an alley."

"Wh-what's the party got t-to do with anything?" Hinata asked, pearl colored eyes looking at me expectantly for an answer.

"That's where I first met Sasuke. When I got into the alley, my plan was to walk the five blocks home." I said, closing my eyes and shaking my head, a small smile coming to my face as I recounted the memory to my friends. "I was just about to walk away, when someone put a hand on my shoulder, it was Sasuke, however, at the time I didn't know, so I elbowed him in the—"

"You _WHAT?!_" Ino screamed, causing at least half the cafeteria to look at our table. I sunk lower in my chair. "Haruno Sakura, how could you do that to Uchiha Sasuke?"

"I didn't know it was him Ino! I've never actually seen the guy, just heard of him. And how am I meant to see his face while he's behind me?"

"That's right Ino." TenTen cut in. "Sakura doesn't stalk the sports teams like we do." she chuckled.

"Anyway," I continued. "We talked for a while, then when he got a text saying the police were on the way, and he walked me home. End of story. We bumped into each other in the hall and everything else you know."

"S-Sakura-chan, th-that seems like such a clichéd st-story."

"I know! but it's true!"

"..So that's where you disappeared off to." Ino mumbled, like she just figured out a huge mystery.

I gave her a look that asked if she was stupid. "Where do you think I went?"

"I was honestly hoping you went home with a really hot guy." She replied slyly.

I felt my face heat up and I looked away. "I-Ino! Don't say that kinda stuff!"

TenTen laughed out loud, and I glared at her. I can't believe my best friend sometimes!

"Anyway Sakura, you should feel lucky." Ino started, looking down at her perfectly manicured nails nonchalantly before turning her gaze back up to regard me, pretty pale blue eyes sparkling. "Uchiha Sasuke doesn't talk to just _any_ girl."

I leaned back in my chair and stared down at my empty bowl that once held a salad that Uchiha Sasuke had insisted in buying me. I had always wanted to meet Uchiha Sasuke — it's something I've wanted to do for a while now, and now that I _have_ met him, and I_ have_ managed to have two semi-decent conversations with him, I felt the need to talk to him more. However, how could I be sure that he felt the same way? Maybe he just saw me walking and insisted to buy me lunch as a way to say sorry for disappearing?

I frowned, running a hand through my hair. If I thought about it too much, I knew I would read too much into it. I should just let everything run it's course, and if Sasuke talked to me again, well then that's just great, and if he doesn't, I'll just have to go on with my daily life and just be happy I got to talk to him twice.

The bell rang and I stood up, picking my bag up with me. "Look, he probably won't talk to me again, just forget about it." I picked up my coke, shoved it into my messenger bag, picked up my tray and walked back over to the now empty canteen line, placed the tray with the others and walked out of the cafeteria, ignoring the obvious looks a few people were sending me.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

I opened the front door to my house, and stepped inside and placed my messenger bag down on the ground before closing the door. I slipped off my shoes and headed towards the kitchen. The house was quiet as I passed the living room, I pressed play on the stereo that sat on a small wooden table by the entry way. A song blasted through the speakers and I smiled, the familiar beat of _'The Pretty Reckless_' scouted out around the house. The stereo was connected to three big speakers in the living room, if turned up loud enough, it would make the house practically shake. I never worried about the neighbours, most people who lived around my area would be gone from their house for weeks on work. I practically had a whole neighbourhood to myself most the time.

I continued on my way towards the kitchen. After grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, I made my way up stairs then into my room so I could get my MacBook, as I sung along to the words of the current song blasting from my living room.

I hated living alone sometimes, but it's day's like this that I'm actually glad my parents were away so much. I got to listen to and have my music as loud as I wanted; I could eat whatever I wanted and have showers for as long as I wanted. But I sometimes misused my freedom and the feeling got old.

The song changed to a slower, softer one, as I sat down on the sofa, lifting my feet up and placing them on the mahogany coffee table, my right foot crossed my left, my back slouched and I laid my Macbook on my lap, but I didn't open it; instead, I let my mind drift off to Uchiha Sasuke.

He'd been the main thing on my mind. So far, we've had two conversations: that night at the party, and today when he bumped into me in the hall then insisted he buy me lunch. His whole demeanor suddenly changed when I said I had no money but was hungry; he started off casual, calm and collected, then — like that time he told me the police were on their way at the party — he went into this.. dominate character who was still calm, but issued an authoritative air that just made you go with whatever he said. It's hard to explain, but I knew there was more to Uchiha Sasuke than what I had been told.

My whole time at Konoha High, I've never even _glanced_ at Sasuke, not once, I had heard stories about him; like how he was on the swim team and came first at least a million times, or how he became the captain of the track team, I knew he got straight A's and how he was a very quiet character that didn't really talk to anyone outside of his 'trusted circle'. Ino often spoke about him a lot, she talked about how good-looking he was, — and really, I couldn't fight with her there, he was pretty damn good-looking — and TenTen would often recount to me how he did in sports or when we had carnivals (which I never, ever went to).

From what I heard, he was an amazing and mysterious person. He was one of those guys everyone had to meet once in their lives.

I knew of his fan club and it's president Karin. It was no secret that she was one hundred percent obsessed with him and if you were to get on her bad side, especially if you got her to hate you over something Uchiha Sasuke related, she'd make your life a living hell and wouldn't even feel remorse for it.

I heard a story once, that this girl confessed to Sasuke that she liked him, really, seriously liked him. There were many stories of how this went down, but one of the most believable stories I had heard, was that Sasuke dated her for a short amount of time, before breaking it off, saying she was too clingy and they just weren't so compatible with each other. As the story goes, Karin and her gang bullied the girl so much, she ended up committing suicide, I was only a freshman at the time, and I didn't know her, but when I found out she had killed herself, I was shocked, I had heard of the bullying, but thought nothing of it. Anyway, the main point of this, was that Karin lead a girl to _suicide_ just over Sasuke.

I'm not sure if she seen me with Sasuke today, but by the amount of stares I got from the girls at school, she most likely already knew, so if she doesn't attack me in the next two days, I should be in the all clear. I don't even think I'm that big of a threat, Uchiha Sasuke couldn't be interested in me even if he was magically made too, so Karin and all the other fangirls didn't have to worry.

The song changed again, and it brought me back to the present. I opened my Macbook, waited for it to load, then got onto the internet, and logged into Facebook. I scrolled down my newsfeed, and I came across a status from Karin (yeah so, I had her on Facebook, who doesn't? she has like a thousand friends, most of them she had probably slept with).

_'ItsKarin Babe_

_He's mine bitch_

_.Share. 6 minutes ago_

_ItsAmie, Yamasha Natsuya, Inuzuka Kiba and 59 others like this.'_

I gulped, and pressed the cross at the corner of the page closing my Macbook right after, then I shoved it off my lap and onto the sofa next to me. She definitely knew that Sasuke had talked to me.

I stood up with my water and Macbook, turning off my stereo then walked up stairs. A little nap seemed like a really good idea at that moment. I walked up the stairs, opening my bedroom door and walked in. I closed it shut behind me. I placed my Macbook on my cherry wood dresser, walking towards my window to pulled the blinds back. My eyes catching a glimpse of a guy dressed in black leaning against one of the many trees around my neighbourhood. I stared at him for a minute, and when he looked up, I swore it was Sasuke.

I shook my head, closing my eyes and when I opened them again, the guy leaning against the tree was gone, the leaves swayed slightly, like the wind had ever so softly ruffled them. I blinked, leaning forward a little to see if I could see him walk off somewhere, but no one else was in sight. I shook my head, closed the blinds then I walked towards my bed, getting under the covers. I closed my eyes.. and waited for sleep to claim me.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

It was four hours later that I woke up to something that made a sound downstairs.

I blinked away my sleepiness, then I quietly got out of bed, bending down to pull out a metal baseball bat that I always kept under my bed. When you were home alone most of the time, you needed to be prepared just incase someone tried to break into your house. That was why I took self-defense too.

I quietly tiptoed towards my door, and carefully opened it, then made my way out into the hall. I walked down the stairs. I tried to step lightly on the stairs, I knew that if I pressed my foot down too hard it would creek and let the intruder know I was up. He probably thought no one was home, I didn't have a car and I knew my parents weren't home because they would've made much louder noises than what the intruder was making.

When I was on the last step, my heart started to beat loudly. To be honest, I've never actually had someone break into my house before, this is the first time. Taking a deep quiet breath, I let it out, I again walked slowly and silently past the dining room entryway, and walked just that little bit further towards the living room. While I was doing so, I made my way to the right side of the room, so I wouldn't be seen.

When you would walk into my house, like any other normal person, you'd enter from the front door, from there, there was a short hallway and on the right was the big living room, when you walked a little further, there was the kitchen on the left side along with the dining room; from there, you had a set of stairs which lead to the second level of the house; there was three bedrooms, two — mine and my parents — have en-suite bathrooms, in the middle of my room and my parents room, there was the guest room and across from that was the main bathroom; it was hardly ever used though, only when Hinata, TenTen and Ino stayed over.

I pressed my back to the wall, the baseball bat resting at my side, I was holding onto it so tight, my knuckles turned white. I closed my eyes, trying to think of the best course of action. I should have called the police while I was up in my room instead of coming down the stairs right away, however, if I was to try to make it back up to my room, I'd most likely get caught. That was the last thing I wanted.

I couldn't confront the intruder either, he could be bigger and stronger than me. I mean, I have a pretty good punch, and am sorta physically strong, but I can't go up against a fully grown male without some type of plan or idea of what I was going to do if I was restrained and couldn't get away, my self-defense teacher taught me better than that.

What to do, what to do?

Light footsteps come closer to me, and my heart began to thump louder in my chest, I tried to take a breath, but I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. I panicked. I lifted up the baseball bat and held it close to my chest, my emerald eyes closed as I counted the footsteps he took. I kept my eyes closed, my teeth sinking into my lip, I started to plot my course of action when the intruder stopped at the entryway of my living room.

With my eyes closed, I swung the metal baseball bat with a _swoosh_ and heard it hit the wall. A loud groan was heard so I opened my eyes, jumping from behind the wall and into the living area, expecting to see someone in there, but I was met with nothing. _Absolutely nothing_.

Crying out in frustration, I run to the other side of the room, then flipped on the light switch, but still, even with the added light, I could still see no one in the room.

I ran a hand through my hair. I'm going crazy. That has to be the only explanation. How is it possible for someone to be there, then just... _vanish_? It just wasn't humanly possible. So I had to be going crazy, that was it.

"It's just my imagination..." I whispered, as I dropped the bat on the floor beside me. "...it has to be." _Just like it was my imagination when I saw that guy who looked like Sasuke outside my house_ I thought.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

**Author's Note: **_So there isn't much SasuSaku in this chapter, but I can assure you that there will _definitely _be heaps more SauSaku! _

_Please tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review! I always love getting reviews so you readers can tell me what you like and don't like about my story. Also, it would be a really _big _help if you can tell me if you see any spelling and grammar mistakes and let me know what they are in a review. It would be greatly appreciated. _

_Anyways, until next updated. _

_Thank you lovelies, ja ne! _


	4. Better Off Staying Away

**Author's Note: **_Hey guys! I am back with the third chapter of Windswept! Yay, three cheers! _

_Anyway, I won't bore you with an extremely long author's note - how many of you actually read the author's note? - so I'll just get straight to the point, yes? _

_Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for their support on this story, it really makes me feel good inside to know people like my story, so I thank you all very much. ^_^ I'm now on the ninth chapter of Windswept, so if you have any problems with story length as of this moment, I'm sorry, everything is practically written in stone at the moment, but I'm working extremely hard to make each chapter a bit longer than the one before. I'm not planning on making Windswept a very long story I won't ruin anything further with my plans for this stories future._

_—Oh, who read chapter 652 of the Manga? The war is — blessedly — finally coming to an end! You can feel free to let me know what you think of chapter 652 in a review, if you'd like! _

_I got a few reviews from readers asking me if this is a vampire fic. I don't want to ruin the story by giving away anything. But no, Sasuke is not a vampire. It's a little more complicated than that, but all will soon be revealed, so just hang in there! _

_Right, so now, on with the story! _

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

**Chapter Three: Better Off Staying Away**

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

A hand landed on my shoulder from behind me, and I took the hand on my shoulder and used all my strength to twist the arm around, making me go behind the person — obviously male — with their arm behind their back. I used the heel of my foot to kick the back of his knees, making him fall to the ground, I used my foot again to push down on the middle of his back, so he was flat on the ground. Breathing heavily, I wiped my brow before small beads of sweat could run down my forehead. _At least I know I haven't forgotten my training_, I thought to myself.

The person on the ground didn't move for a good fifty seconds, most likely stunned from my quick attack, before, randomly, laughing.

I let go of his arm and took my foot off his back, I stepped away slowly, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The male got up off the ground, his back facing me and dusted off the dirt from his clothes, still laughing.

I looked over his figure. Tall, athletic build, his skin was tanned and he had spiky blonde hair; he wore an orange t-shirt and black jeans, and his shoes were black high tops. He turned around, a big amused grin on his face. I noticed the three whisker-like marks on both his cheeks, but they only added to his handsome features. He had a strong jaw, one you'd see on a male model, his eyes were a pretty blue and he had this air of power and energy that surrounded him.

I instantly recognised him as Uzumaki Naruto — Sasuke's friend, the one who grinned at me the other day at lunch.

"That was good! who taught you to defend yourself like that, Sakura-chan?!" Naruto said, smiling at me.

"Huh? You know me?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing more in my confused haze.

"Yeah. I'm Uzumaki Naruto just incase you didn't know!" he shouted, giving my the good-guy-pose.

I just smiled at him unsurely. I rubbed my hands together in nervousness, looking down at my feet and away from the watchful gaze of Uzumaki Naruto. Why was he talking to me? Did I do something to him? I'm pretty sure that I have never, ever said or even been in the presence of Naruto before, so I know it couldn't be that.

I took the chance, and looked up at him, only to see his eyes trained on my figure. Naruto had to be a good three inches taller than me, and about two inches shorter than Sasuke. He was biting his lip, his hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides. I watched him carefully from under my lashes. So this was the guy Hinata was so taken with, she sure knew how to pick 'em. I wondered if he's as nice and charming as she says he is.

"Can I walk you to school? I'd like to talk to you about something important." he piped up, his legs taking small tentative steps towards me.

Nodding my head, I waited for him to stand beside me before walking forward. We stayed in silence for a while; I didn't really know what was I supposed to say to him, I was waiting for him to start talking so I could know what he wanted to tell me. I looked at Naruto from the corner of my eye, only to see him looking straight ahead, beautiful blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight, from the angle I was looking at him, I deduced that he was even more handsome than Hinata, Ino and TenTen had described.

I should really go to sport carnivals, I'm missing out on seeing all these hot guys.

"Sasuke..." Naruto started, his azure eyes finally looking down into my emerald, "Sasuke's a complicated guy, I know he may seem nice and normal on the outside... but on the inside, Sasuke's... Sasuke's dark and mysterious. I just wanted to let you know what you're getting yourself into if you start hanging around him."

I frowned, looked away from Naruto, biting my cheek and wringed my hands. What could he mean by 'dark and mysterious'? I turned back to look at Naruto, and saw that he was watching me, taking in my reaction to his words. "What do you mean?'

"He's not someone you want to get mixed in with." he said, looking at me seriously. We stopped out the front of the Konoha High. Students were walking in and some were even walking out. A group of girls were loudly laughing and talking by the gate, and a couple were leaning against the brick wall, not caring about having a heavy make-out in front of everyone. Naruto placed his hands on my shoulders, giving me a straight and serious look. "You're better off staying away from him."

Emerald met azure in a soft heated clash. I looked deep in his sparkling eyes, trying to look deep enough to see if he was just telling me this to mess with me, or if he was really telling the truth. Hinata had told me when she first had a conversation with Naruto, that he was very outspoken, fun and carefree, but this Naruto was serious and controlled, nothing like how he had been described. Opening my mouth so ask why exactly, a familiar deep, rustic voice beat me.

"Naruto... what are you doing?"

We looked away from each other, Naruto and I looked over at Sasuke, before we turned back to each other. Thinking quickly, I smiled up at Naruto and he frowned at me. "So Hyuuga Hinata would really appreciate it if you could give her some swimming lessons, but she doesn't know I'm asking you so don't tell her I said anything to you, okay?"

Naruto frowned at me before his eyes widened and he smiled brightly. He took his hands off my shoulders, punching the sky. "Sure, Sakura-chan, I'll ask her today." He turned towards Sasuke, grinning at his best friend before he practically pranced towards him, his arms flying around him. He punched Sasuke jokingly on the shoulder. Sasuke grunted but didn't do anything else. "Sakura-chan and I were just have a friendly chat." he told the quiet Uchiha.

Sasuke's dark gaze looked me over once and I tried to hide my discomfort with a smile. He must have bought it because he nodded his head once before turning back to look Naruto. "I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Naruto nodded then walked past me, giving me a knowing look. I stared at him as he walked away, and when I felt the warm touch of Uchiha Sasuke fingers on my hand, I instantly pulled it back, the now familiar feeling of electricity pulsing through my veins every time we touched came rushing back, shocking me. I looked away from Sasuke when he frowned at me. However, he didn't try to reach out to touch me again and I was kinda thankful for that.

The silence was awkward and I felt like everyone was staring at me. Clearing my throat, I played with the strap of my messenger bag that was resting across my chest. "I have to go, I got to meet up with my friends." I turned around, my breathing heavy and my eyes clouded with unshed tears.

Why was I crying? There was nothing to cry about. I bit my lip and kept my back straight trying to keep the shutter from running through my body. I had no reason to want to cry so _why_ did I want to? Was it because of what Naruto told me? Was it because I had to lie to Sasuke about what Naruto and I were talking about? Or was it because I knew a friendship between _Uchiha Sasuke_ and I was never going to happen?

I was about to take a step forward when fingers wrapped around mine. I didn't have to turn around to know it was Sasuke, the tingling in my hand told me it was him — because only one person could make me feel like I'm being softly electrocuted and really, who else would it be?

Sasuke pulled me back so I was turned towards him again. I met his chest, before I craned my neck back so I could look up at his frowning, but still handsome, face. Sasuke looked down at me with a look in his cold eyes that I couldn't really understand. "Sasuke..?" I whispered.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, his voice low and soft and deep, it made my body shiver. His fingers tightened around my hands. I looked down and that was when I noticed that I was crying. I pulling my hands out of his grasp, and turned away from him, wiping my eyes with the back of my hands, but the tears just _would not stop_. Sasuke's hand reached out to touch my shoulder, probably to make me turn around, but I kept my ground and refused to turn around to look at him. "Sakura... tell me."

"We... I..." I sighed, shaking my head, my hair followed the movement slowly. "What are we?" I turned back around to look at Sasuke, I didn't bother to hold back my tears. "Because you haven't made it very clear what your intentions are."

Sasuke scowled, running a hand through his already messy hair. "Whatever Naruto told you it isn't —"

"It's not what Naruto told me, Sasuke!" my voice came out louder and more forceful than I expected it too and by the growing sounds of students passing by us and into the school, I knew that no one but Sasuke heard what I had just shouted — not that I really cared at the moment . "I just want to know what we are. Are we friends or am I just gonna be someone you're gonna _mess around_ with?" I snapped harshly.

Sasuke stepped closer to me, his hands staying firmly at his sides, but I knew he wanted to reach out and touch me, I could see he was fighting to keep his hands firmly clenched. We stared at each other for what seemed lie a very long time, everything around us just faded into the background; it was like being in our own little world where no one else was allowed to intervene. It came clear to me that I wasn't going to get an answer from him, so I turned away, heading further into the school.

"Sakura, wait!" Sasuke shouted as he jogged towards me.

I turned around, and I glared at him briefly. "Were you outside my house yesterday?"

Without any hesitation, Sasuke nodded his head. "Yes."

"Why would you do that?" I bit out rather harshly, but the words had already left my mouth, I couldn't take them back now. "What were you doing there?"

Sasuke frowned, his usual emotionless eyes showing a hint of anxiety before returning to normal, his teeth once again dug into his lip. He shrugged his shoulders half heartedly, like he didn't even know why he was there either. I rolled my eyes, then turned around, trying my best to ignore his attempts at calling my name. I pushed through crowds of people, as more tears started to run down my cheeks and onto my chin, then they dripped down my neck, staining my clothes.

I ran into the girls bathroom just as the bell rang, I checked all the stalls, and when I was sure no one else was in the bathroom, I locked the door, pressing my back to it. A sob finally caused my whole body to shudder and my legs couldn't keep me up any longer. I sunk to the floor, taking off my messenger bag then putting it beside me, my knees instantly came up to my chest, my arms wrapped around them and my chin rested on my knees, my eyes closed as cool traitor tears continued to run nonstop down my cheeks.

Why was I crying? I had _no reason_ _to_ cry, so why was I crying, dammit!

Sasuke and I could never be friends, why would I even try to bother with it ?! it's not like we could have been anything more either, we're just too different. He's popular and rich and he can go places and have a better future; and I'm _not_ rich and I'm definitely _not_ popular. I'm smart, but that alone won't get me into Med School so I can become a doctor. I can't live up to Sasuke, he will always overshadow me.

What about his family? I've heard a lot about Sasuke's father, Uchiha Fugaku. He's a real badass, he's tough, has to have the best of everything for his family, but he's loving and caring and will do anything to make his family rich and strong and _protected_. Uchiha Mikoto, Sasuke's mother, she was apparently a warm, kind, strong-willed, she was smart and beautiful and she would never approve of me. My mother only cared for herself and her job; sure they'd send me money for food, clothes and whatever else I needed, they also played the rent and all the bills, but Sasuke's family was _there_.

_He's not someone you want to get mixed in with. You're better off staying away from him._ Maybe Naruto is right, maybe I should just stay away from Sasuke; he's no good for me and I'm no good to him. However just the mere thought of not being able to see him and hear his deep rustic voice, or not having him touch me and feeling that electrifying sensation making my body tingle. I knew it was the right thing to walk away from him, I just couldn't though.

I let out another shaky sob at the thought, my whole body shuddered with the loud cry. Everyone would be in first period so I knew no one would hear me, but I bit my lip to keep out the sounds of my distress.

After I sat on the floor so I could try to control my sobs for a good ten minutes, I got up off the bathroom floor, and headed towards the sink. I looked at my red and puffy face in the mirror. Rough streaks were going down my cheeks in all different directions, making it obvious that I had been crying. I retrieved my messenger bag from the floor, placing it on the small bench in front of the many sinks in the girls bathroom. I turned on the tap, washed my face with water before I dried my face and hands with my undershirt; I opened my bag, pulled out the small makeup kit Ino always made sure I had in my bag, and used a small amount of concealer to cover up the red around my eyes and the streaks on my cheeks.

I'm was so glad Ino made me keep this in my messenger bag constantly.

When I was sure I looked presentable, I slung my messenger bag across my chest and unlocked the door to the girls bathroom. I stuck my head out and looked left then right, when the coast was clear, I stepped out, making sure the door didn't slam closed. I quickly and noiselessly made my way down the hall then outside onto the oval. I walked along the back wall that led to a small staircase that went all the way to the top of the school, where a janitor had created a beautiful little mini open greenhouse.

It was kinda funny how I found it.

Some time during freshman year, I had followed a janitor (out of boredom) and found him working on this place. I spent most of my breaks there, I even showed Ino, Hinata and TenTen about it and that was 'our place' — as TenTen called it. But at the end of my sophomore year the janitor lost his job, so I had promised him I'd keep this place the way he left it.

Good memories.

I pushed the door open, walked in and smiled, I looked around while I dropped my bag on the ground so I could grab the watering can by the entrance. Going over to the tap around by the door to fill it up. I took out my phone and earphones from my jean pockets so I could put my earphones in. I turned the music up loud. I lip sung along with the music, my hips swaying as I watered the plants. My mood brightened quickly, and when all the plants had been watered, I went over to the ledge and looked out over the school, a cool breeze blew, making me shiver lightly, but I closed my eyes and welcomed the cool wind.

Taking out my earphones, I sat down on a small bench and stared at the never-ending sky, the light blue and white fluffy clouds offering me some kind of comfort. It was only early in the day and so much had already happened. I thought today was going to be a good day, but it turned out to be the opposite.

Why couldn't Sasuke answer my questions? What are we? I'm not even sure if we are even friends or just acquaintances. I see us at friends, but what does Sasuke see us as? He obviously doesn't see me as a friend because he would have told me.. but he didn't. What about when I asked him if he was outside my house? He said that he was, and I honestly believed him, however how did he disappear so fast? Just like a few nights ago after the party, when he disappeared from my doorstep; like he wasn't even there to begin with.

_Was he the one inside my house last night?_ I thought.

Suddenly someone sat next to me and I whipped my head to the left, surprised to see the body of Uchiha Sasuke beside me. I blinked, turned away and fiddled with my fingers, wringing my hands unsurely. How did he find me up here? I was sure no one followed or saw me. Not bothering to ask, we sat in silence for a while, we both just watched the clouds pass in the sky and felt the cool breeze blow around us. I took in his scent, I knew it was all Sasuke.

He grabbed my hand, intertwining our fingers, he held my hand tight, his bigger, stronger, warmer hand lending my comfort. Slowly, I brought my free hand up and placed it over his, squeezing tightly. I almost cried out in happiness when he didn't pull his hand away.

"...I don't see you as someone I'm just going to 'mess around with'.." he started, his obsidian eyes boring into my emerald, I almost gasped, his eyes were so pretty. My eyes instantly looked down at his mouth, and that small quirk that I've seen only a few times was there, albeit small, but it was there. "..I want to get to know you better."

"Sasuke I—"

"I'm not sure what Naruto told you," he cut me off, looking back out at the sky. "but I know he's only looking out for you and for me."

I frowned, and stared at the side of his face, my fingers twitching. I wanted to run my fingers down his jaw. "He told me that I'm better off staying away from you." I whispered.

"He's right."

"There's something about you — I don't know what it is, but I want to find out." I squeezed his hands tighter, afraid he would pull away and leave me on the rooftop like an idiot.

I was surprised when he returned it.

"I have many secrets that I can't tell you about Sakura." Sasuke said seriously. He looked down at me, "Secrets that you can't know; that could put you and everyone you know in danger."

I bit my lip. What kind of secrets? I shook my head, smiling up at him, my smile widening ever so slightly when I saw the small quirk of his lips again.

"I don't care."

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

"We should probably go down for lunch." I suggested while shifting my position against his shoulder.

Sasuke and I were leaning against the wall, my whole weight was resting against his left shoulder, his hand was resting on my thigh and my fingers were tracing his palm; he flat-out told me he liked that, so I continued, not really sure how I was supposed to act around him. What was I suppose do when _Uchiha Sasuke_ told me he liked it when I traced his palm with my fingers?

I honestly think I should get over the fact that he's _Uchiha Sasuke_, because it's even annoying me.

I kept my eyes on his open palm, watching as his fingers twitched. I smiled softly and let my fingers circle his palm one more time before I let my finger trace each of his, my index finger then went back down to his palm and up and over his wrist, then up his arm and all the way to his elbow where the rolled up sleeves of his black button-up ended. I let my finger trail back down to his palm where I repeated what I did before over and over.

"We probably should.." Sasuke said after a while in a hushed tone. "..Naruto would be looking for me."

I kept tracing his palm, then his fingers, then to his wrist and up his arm, l liked the feel of his warm skin and that electric feeling. Was that ever going to go away? I looked at Sasuke too see he had his eyes closed, his head resting against the wall, and immediately I knew..

..It's never going to go away.

"We should go now then.. the bell is going to go in five minutes." I said with a sigh, I didn't really wanted to go.

I stopped tracing Sasuke's hand and made my move to get up, however, Sasuke's hand wrapped around my wrist, effectively stopping me from moving towards my messenger bag. I turned towards him with a frown, I watched as conflicted, suppressed emotions altered his aristocratic features. I opened my mouth to say his name, but went against it when he let out a shaky breath. Sitting back down next to him, Sasuke released my wrist and I took his hand in mine, brushing my thumb against the back of his knuckles.

"I'm... I'm sorry for making you cry." his voice was low; very quiet. Sasuke looked in the opposite direction, refusing to meet my gaze.

I smiled, letting a giggle escape my lips. "_You're_ not the reason I was crying, Sasuke." I said after my giggles subsided. "I was crying because this is new. I know it sounds stupid, but I've just gone through high school, hearing that you're this _amazing, smart, talented_ person, and I can't live up to you." I squeezed his hand before letting go so I could stand up and go over to my messenger bag. I pulled out a small green book and pen.

Then I made my way back over to Sasuke, I made myself comfortable next to him again. I placed the book on my lap, and made sure he could see it perfectly. Then I opened it, skipping a few pages. "I've had this book since I was thirteen. It's got every single goal I've ever had since then in it." I muttered while I gave the book to him and pointed to the spot I wanted him to read. "Sophomore year, four months into the year, one of my goals was—"

"To meet me." Sasuke muttered, and read over the line I pointed at him to read.

"Yeah.." I smiled, "..and now I've got to do that, I can put a tick next to it to say I've completed that goal."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

Sasuke nodded at the book in his hands, "Why did you want to meet me?"

"Like I said.. I've gone through high school hearing about how _amazing_ you are. I wanted to know _what_ it was like meet someone who could_ do_ whatever they wanted, _be_ whoever they wanted... _live_ like they had a purpose in life; you've got everything I've ever wanted." I smiled, grabbing my book out of his hands and getting back up again so I could place it back into my bag. I kept my back turned to Sasuke, I continued.

"You've got popularity, you're smart, you've got heaps of friends and a family that's always there. You're fit and have the looks that could make a male _model_ look like they've been to hell and back; you're strong, independent and you _mean_ something... you've got a future to look forward too.. and I'm stuck here." Sasuke remained quiet, but I didn't mind. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time I was putting away my book, I picked up my messenger bag, slinging it over my shoulder and straightening up, my posture rigid and defensive.

"Why didn't you then?" Sasuke asked. "Why didn't you try to talk to me?"

I scoffed. "Please," I mumbled, "I couldn't get past Karin and your freaking fangirl army. Plus, we haven't ever crossed paths with each other before the party, that's why I didn't recognize you straight away."

He nodded his head in understanding.

A minute past before Sasuke stood up and retrieved his bag. Not a moment later the bell rang, and I could hear students flow out of classrooms like turning on a tap and watching the water pour out. I nodded at Sasuke and we made our way down the stairs and outside. We walked in silence around the corner and blended into the crowds of people heading towards the cafeteria.

Sasuke pushed the door open for me again, then looked down at me. "Do you have money today, or do I have to buy you lunch again?" he asked with a smirk.

Smiling, I nodded my head once. "Nah, I've got a packed lunch." I turned around to head towards my table that was already seated with Hinata, TenTen and Ino, I stopped for a second, I felt people bump into my shoulders, and they sent me soft curse words, before I turned around to look at Sasuke who was smirking at me expectantly.

"You're walking me home this afternoon, okay?!" I shouted over the noise.

My eyes never strayed from his mouth as his smirk widened. "Yeah, I'll meet you after school."

Smiling, I turned back around, a huge, broad grin on my face.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

I kicked the ball to TenTen who dribbled it for a moment before she shot it off to Ataya, a big breasted brunette who had so much makeup caked on her face it made her look like a clown. Despite saying that, she wasn't bad at playing soccer. Ataya got halfway down the field before she kicked the ball over to TenTen; TenTen then kicked the ball and landed it perfectly in the middle of the goal. I laughed and jogged over to TenTen, giving her a high-five before anyone else on our team could.

"That was amazing Ten!" I smiled at my brown-haired friend.

"You're just as good Saku."

We walked back over to the Ino and Hinata who were sitting at the bench, talking animatedly to each other. Hinata caught sight of TenTen and I, she waved at us enthusiastically. When we came closer to the two girls, Hinata held up two full water bottles.

"HINATA! you're a lifesaver!" TenTen shouted, bolting forward towards the quiet Hyuuga, and took the water bottle from her hands, gulping the water down with vigor, some of the water dripped down her chin, then to the top of her shirt, adding to the lightly seen sweat patches that covered her white shirt.

I took the other water bottle off of Ino and took a seat next to my blonde best friend, leaning my head against her shoulder.

"Forehead!" Ino shouted while she pushed me off her, "You're all sweaty!"

My shoulders lifted up in a shrug. I took another mouthful of water, trying to quench my thirst. I listened in on the chatter of my friends, but I wasn't really participating very much in the conversation.

I covered my eyes with my arm, attempting to block the sunlight from shining in my eyes. I looked around the area, and spotted Karin's scowling figure marching towards us, her followers walked behind her, their faces just as twisted as Karin's. I swallowed and turned to look at my friends.

"Hey guys.. Karin's on her way..."

Their heads snapped towards me and they followed my finger, — which was pointing towards the flaming red-heads direction — there mouths twisted in disgust.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing?" a snarky voice shouted at me. Everyone cleared out-of-the-way as Karin walked towards me, her sports uniform completely different from everyone elses. Her black shorts (which would just end above the knees) ended just at her inner thighs, which showed her long legs; the white polo-shirt was twisted at the front, so it came up to show her stomach.

A definite whore.

"What did I do?" I mumbled as I stood up, standing in front of Karin so I could look her directly in the eye. She was about two inches shorter than me, so I could at least look her in the eye without having to crane my neck or practically look down on her. I blinked when her face twisted further in anger.

"I want you to stay away from Sasuke." she yelled, her face was right up in mine, her very minty breath made my face heat up and spit to land on my face. I took a step back, my mouth opened and my eyes closed. I ran my hand over my face, clearing the specks of spit Karin transferred from her stupid mouth to my face.

"Say it, don't spray it." The comeback was a natural thing, and as soon as it left my mouth, I instantly regretted it.

Everyone stood around us, watching to see what would happen next as Karin's face turned as red as her hair. She adjusted her thick, black-rimmed glasses, her red eyes blazed with anger. I took a step back, but she followed, her fist raised, as if she was getting ready to punch me. I raised up my own fists, just in case. But when I caught the figure of Uchiha Sasuke walking behind Karin and through the large parted crowd, I instantly backed down and ducked and dodged the oncoming hits.

Karin must have caught sight of Sasuke, because in an instant, she stopped trying to swing at me. Her frown instantly turned into a flirtatious smile, one that could lore in anyone. However, instead of walking up to Karin, he stopped beside me, his head inclined, his dark, hooded eyes stared at me, assessing my contention. Even though there wasn't a scratch on me, however due to my appearance from the previous soccer game I had just finished ten minutes ago, I bet I didn't look as dashing as his eyes portrayed me to be.

Sasuke turned his attention, albeit reluctantly away from me, and looked over at Karin with no emotion on his face but disgust. She beamed at him, her smile trying to make her seem innocent, but I knew Sasuke wasn't buying any of her fake smiles.

"What are you doing, Karin?"

"What are you talking about Sasuke?" her voice was high-pitched, sounding like nails on a chalkboard. Behind her, I saw Ino, Hinata and TenTen cringe at the sound, my eyes caught the sight of a bunch of others that did the same. "I was just having a ch—"

"Don't lie." Sasuke deadpanned, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stared Karin dead in the eyes, his vision unwavering.

"I-I would never l-lie to _you_ Sasuke." She stuttered.

"Good."

Sasuke then turned around and ran his fingers over my hand as he walked past, the space between the massive group of people still parted as Sasuke walked down it in stride, like it was something he did all the time. I suppose he was famous around the school, so he's probably use to having everyone grovel at his feet.

I watched as he walked away, hands shoved in his pocket, his stride very calm and relaxed. I could see the wind blow around him, his messy hair moved along with it. I watched his back as he walked away, my heart thumped in my chest, my head started to pound, and my hand tingled. I blinked emerald eyes, time started again, the world around me faded into colour instead of the black haze I was just in. All the emotions that ran through me was like I got hit by a car; enough to leave me feeling faint, but hardly enough to make me unconscious.

Karin's shoulder bumped into mine, the force knocked me off my feet. I stumbled back a few steps, my hand reached out for something to hold onto so I would not fall down to the ground and make a fool of myself.

"Easy.." TenTen whispered in my ear, her hands were on my back, I knew she wouldn't let me fall.

"Thanks TenTen." I smiled.

Everyone began to clear away and TenTen, Hinata, Ino and I walked slowly towards Karin and her friends. All I wanted to do was get out of these sweaty clothes and lie down.

"Sasuke was here to save you this time you ugly, pink-haired bitch but—"

As I passed her, I socked her in the face hard with my fist, she was on the ground in ten seconds flat. "I'm sorry, was that meant to offend me? Right now, the only thing offending me is your face. Hopefully that bruise will make it look better." I growled and walked past my friends as they laughed loudly, even Hinata joined in on the giggles.

By the time Karin got up off the ground and Ino, TenTen and Hinata stopped laughing, I was around the corner, my back pressed to the wall, I closed my eyes, wrung my hands together and took in a deep breath through my nose and let it out through my mouth. I had to calm down.

"Haha, that was a nice hit Sakura-chan!" Uzumaki Naruto's voice said from beside me.

I opened my eyes and smirked at him, held up my fist and stared at it proudly. "She deserved it." I muttered, exhaustion started to get to me; my energy levels were low, which made it hard to even stand up straight.

"She did! I've been waiting for someone to do something to that ugly face of hers." Naruto commented. I could feel his eyes trained on me, suddenly. "I still don't think you should get involved with Sasuke, he's—"

"—Got a lot of secrets he can't tell me." I said as I looked over at Naruto with a blank look. "He already told me that, I don't care. I can't explain what it is, but there's something about him.. something that just.. draws me to him." I whispered truthfully, my gaze directed towards the ground, my mind drifted off as my mouth continued talking."I've gone through high school hearing about how Sasuke's this _God_ and now that I've finally got the_ chance_ to _actually_ get to know him, I'm not going to give it all up because of a few stupid secrets." I stopped, looked over at the quiet figure next to me. "Secrets comes with a price... they are never free.. so what price has Sasuke paid for his secrets... what price have you paid Naruto?"

He looked down at me with hooded azure eyes, before he smiled and put his hand on top of my head and ruffled my short pink hair. I swatted his hand away but smiled up at him anyway. "The prices are always high Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk the way I had just came. I followed behind him, wondering what he was doing. "I still have to ask Hyuuga Hinata if she wants swimming lessons from me."

I laughed. "You don't have to, I just said that be—"

"I want to though." Naruto said as he turned the corner, running straight into said Hyuuga.

"N-N-Naruto-kun.." the quiet, dark headed girl stuttered.

I turned the corner just as the words left her lips, and took my place next to TenTen, who was openly staring at Naruto. I laughed. TenTen would burst in... three... two... and... one.

"Oh my god! you're Uzumaki Naruto! You're the captain of the swim team; you came first a total of three hundred and seventy-two times — eight wins behind Uchiha Sasuke — and you went to the national championships and came first, three years in a row! You're on the track team, football team, outside of school you do taijutsu and—"

I put my hand over TenTen's mouth to try to stop the words that flowed out her mouth. I smiled awkwardly at Naruto who stood wide-eyed and stunned next to a red Hyuuga and a smirking Yamanaka. When I was sure TenTen wasn't going to talk anymore, I removed my hand and stepped away from my brown-haired friend. She didn't take her eyes from him for a second.

I cleared my throat in an attempt to change the topic. "Naruto has something to ask you, Hinata."

Hinata redden even more, if that was even possible, and turned to look at me then at Naruto and pointed to herself. "M-me?" When I nodded, she turned back towards Naruto who started grinning down at the girl, his eyes sparkled.

"Wow! I mean, I always thought Neji's eyes were cool, but yours are so much brighter than his." Naruto leaned forward, his eyebrows furrowed as he placed the back of his hand on her forehead. "Are you okay, Hinata-chan? Your face is very red." Naruto looked over her shoulder at Ino who snickered. His eyes then went to TenTen, who smiled brightly; then finally to me. I smiled at him, not really sure how I was supposed to explain without saying Hinata loves him and she gets heaps embarrassed when he's around or brought up in conversation.

"He... he... c-called me... Hinata-chan... oh... my.." Hinata giggled to herself, before her eyes rolled to the back of her head, her body fell limp backwards and if it wasn't for the quick reflexes of Naruto, she would have been on the ground with a bad head injury.

"Hinata-chan! hey, hey, Hinata-chan wake up!" Naruto shouted in panic, shaking her shoulders to try to wake the passed out girl up.

I laughed. I mean a full throw-your-head-back laugh.

Oh Naruto.. get use to it.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

When I walked out of school, the first thing I noticed was the massive clouds that ominously rolled across the sky, hinting that it could rain tonight; the second thing I noticed, was Sasuke leaning against the wall, ignoring the giggling girls. I smiled and walked over to him. Sasuke had his eyes closed, so I tapped his cheek.

"Hehe, are you awake?" I giggled as I poked his cheek again, even though he had already opened his eyes.

Smirking playfully at me, Sasuke poked my forehead with his fingers. I let out a small 'ow' and rubbed the spot he poked, probably making the forming red spot on my forehead worse. I laughed and began to walk down the steps, the amount of students in front of the school was thinning as we made our way around the corner, going the direction of my house.

"I heard you punched Karin in the face after I left.." Sasuke sent me a smirk and I stared at his lips, the thought of wanting his lips to meet mine clouded my mind for a brief second, but my inner pushed the thoughts away.

"She deserved it. No one makes fun of my hair." I replied defensively, stroking a lock of my hair. There was a long pause between us. "It's natural you know... my hair." I continued. "I get it from my mother. Her hair is lighter than mine now though, but apparently my hair is the same shades as hers was at my age."

"Pink's an unusual hair colour, not something you'd seen often." Sasuke said, stopping on the driveway of my house. He turned towards me and took a lock of my hair, twisting it around his pointer finger. I stared up at him. "Did your mother name you Sakura because of your hair?"

I nodded my head. He was so close to me I couldn't think properly. His body heat and dominance radiated off him in waves, the memory of sitting next to him in the alley at the party last weekend replayed in my head as he continued to play with my hair. Hesitantly, I reached for his hand, brushing my thumb against the back of his knuckles, feeling the electric flow of his skin on mine run up my arm.

Sasuke leaned forward and so did I, our lips centimeters apart. I closed my eyes. This was it; I was going to kiss Uchiha Sasuke out the front of my house.

Just as our lips were about to touch, a voice that I knew kinda well shouted at me. "Haruno Sakura, get that boy off my driveway!" my mother screamed.

Sasuke and I jumped back with a start, avoiding each others gaze. After a few more seconds of awkwardness, I yelled back at my mother, telling her I'd be inside in a minute, I turned to Sasuke and smiled apologetically. He shrugged; brushing it off like it was nothing.

"Thanks for walking me home, Sasuke." I smiled, truly grateful. "Are you fine walking home? It looks like it might rain soon." I asked, worried that he could get sick and it would be my fault.

He shook his head. "No, I'll be fine, Sakura." He rolled the 'r' in my name, and it made me shiver in delight.

"See you tomorrow Sasuke." I turned around and started to walk up my driveway, when fingers wrapped around my wrist. I turned around and looked at Sasuke questionably.

"Can I walk home tomorrow?" he asked, anxiety laced within his voice.

"I'd like that."

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

**Author's Note: **_Awh isn't that just cute? Hehe. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and you'll be so kind as to leave me lots of reviews! They really do make a difference, I swear! Or, if you don't want to leave a review, feel free to PM, I will try to reply when I can. You can also go to my profile and get the link to my , I love getting questions and I'll answer all of them!_

_Well, until next update, Ja ne, lovelies! _


	5. Ice Cream and the Phone Call

**Author's Note: **_Hey guys! It's Sunday morning, I'm bursting with energy and I'm read to get this chapter up! _

_A lot of things have been going on for me since the last update - but they're not all bad. The guy I liked talked to me. Yes, you read that right, TALKED TO ME. I was practically dying inside. But do you know what I did? Instead of being a normal person and smiling and replying back... I ran. -sighs- Me and my social awkwardness. _

_Anyway. This has to be one of my favorite chapters! and I'm pretty sure it's one of the longest! So, I hope you enjoy it. _

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

**Chapter Four: Ice Cream and the Phone Call**

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

"I am _not_ going to _ever_ wear that!" TenTen shouted, crossing her arms across her chest, turned her head away from Ino, Hinata and I, then walked off in the opposite direction — away from the dresses.

"C'mon Ten!" Ino nagged and chased our brown-haired friend. Hinata and I followed silently behind them, shaking our heads at the two girls. Ino continued to try to coax TenTen into buying a black, flowed dress that was sleeveless and ended at the knees. Of course TenTen (being a tomboy) refused.

Ino had already got herself a few nice new dresses to add to her thousands of others and she had managed to get the shy Hyuuga next to me, to buy a new bathing suit; her swimming lessons with Naruto would start Monday next week. I knew she was excited that she'd be spending 'alone time' with Naruto and that she'd be able to see him shirtless. Hinata needed a guy like Naruto. I just met him three days ago and I can already tell he'd be a great match for Hinata.

I had taken a liking to Naruto, his loud, happy but protective and serious personality was one of the main things that stuck out with Naruto. That, and the whisker like-marks on his cheeks. I could tell he had been friends with Sasuke for a while now, they seemed to know each other like the back of their hand.

Sasuke had been walking me home for the last three days, and it was nice, I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with him. Ino kept 'hinting' (which with Ino, hinting means practically shouting out) that Sasuke and I should hurry up and get together already, but it was too early. I've known him for a little bit of a week, and there was our almost-kiss out the front of my house the day my mother shouted out the window that Sasuke had to get off her driveway. Mum and Dad had a very serious talk to me about bringing boys home. It's not like Sasuke's a _stranger_. He's an acquaintance, but if I wasn't sure about him, I wouldn't have asked him to walk me home.

It just annoyed me because my parents come home after being away for two weeks and start acting like we're the 'perfect family' and that they're worried about me.

"TenTen! please?" Ino pouted, baby blue eyes sparkled with fake, unshed tears.

TenTen shook her head, looking away from the pouting blonde and closing her eyes, frowning. "No way." She said. "I don't wear dresses Ino. You know this!"

"But—"

"No."

Ino sighed in frustration then stormed back over to all the other dresses, put it back on the rack in its rightful place, grabbed her five bags and walked back towards us and out the store. We watched as she stormed over the next store across from us. I sighed shaking my head, and followed TenTen and Hinata as we went over to Ino who was now angrily going through the racks of clothes.

"Oh Sakura! I found something Sasukeee will like!" Ino said in a sing-song voice. She dragged out the 'e' in his name, which made his name sound cute.

"I don't like it!" I shouted, frowning.

"You haven't even seen it!" Ino called back. She walked around the small corner and stopped in front of us, holding a pink knee-length dress with spaghetti straps with a white sash around the waist. A small black bow was tied at the front. I felt my face go bright red so I brought up my hands to cover my cheeks so no one could see the look of utter embarrassment on my face.

Hinata giggled to my left and I turned to look at her, she instantly stopped and sat up straighter, folding her hands in her lap. I looked to my right and glared at a smiling TenTen. She poked her tongue out at me, using her fingers to give me the peace sign. I then turned to look at Ino who smirked at me, one hand on her hip and the other holding up the dress.

"You have to try it on!" TenTen exclaimed as she stood, grabbed my hand and pulled me up, shoving me towards Ino. She handed me the dress and I took it with a grumble, looking over my shoulder so I could glare at TenTen.

"You'll l-look great Sakura!" Hinata whispered quietly while she clapped her hands.

I walked into one of the many change rooms, and began to strip out of my jeans and red halter top. I can't believe they're making me try this on. Just like TenTen, dresses aren't my thing; and why would I want to impress Sasuke anyway? It's not like I like him or anything, we're just friends and I don't think we'll get any further than that — I'm content with that, really. It'd be cool to go out with him though.

Shaking my head, I wiggled into the dress, awkwardly, I zipped up the back while I flung my pink hair over my shoulders and out-of-the-way. I pulled at the end of the dress, trying to make it go a little lower. I thought it'd end at just above my knees, but it just reached the lower part of my thigh, and it showed too much of my skin.

I looked at my reflection in the change room mirror. I gave a little twirl, and watched as the dress puffed out as I moved. I smiled and gathered my clothes, folded them in a neat pile and walked out. I would be quick; show them me in the dress, get out of it, I'll probably have to pay for it, then I won't ever have to wear it ever again.

"HAHA!" a loud laugh stopped me in my tracks. The laughed sounded an awful lot like Naruto's.

I took a few steps closer and stuck my head around the corner slightly, my emerald eyes winded when I saw Naruto, Sasuke, a guy I didn't know and Hyuuga Neji, Hinata's elder cousin, sitting with Ino, TenTen and Hinata. Neji sat between TenTen and Hinata, having a light conversation with a blushing brunette; my blonde best friend sat down next to the guy I didn't know. But by the way she blushed and smiled, I knew that _had_ to be Nara Shikamaru; next to him, was Naruto, loud and laughing with Hinata; then there was Sasuke, he was leaning against the wall near the door of the store, his arms folded and his black emotionless eyes stared off into the distance.

He looked bored.

"Sakura!" Ino suddenly shouted. I pulled my eyes off Sasuke and blushed when the group of people looked over at me. I made sure my body was away from anyone's view, so only my head was peeking out around the corner. "Come."

"Er... Ino?" I mumbled, blushing a deeper shade of pink.

"Oh right, the dress! show me, show me! does it look good on you?" she asked with her normal enthusiastic voice, white she jumped off the small seat in the middle of the shop.

"Ohh! I wanna see! Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, his voice just as enthusiastic as Ino.

"It looks fine. I'll go change—" I started and turned around, practically running back down the change room. I ignored Ino's shouts and hurriedly got changed, my heart pounded in my chest, like it wanted to jump out on the floor and run away.

When I was changed, I folded the dress, made sure I looked pretty, then walked back out, heading straight towards the cash register. Once paid for, I turned around and come face-to-chest, with Uchiha Sasuke. I inclined my head and met his gaze. I smiled, then stepped back a tad. He smirked down at me, then his gaze shifted down to the bag in my hand, an eyebrow raised.

"Hi."

"Hey." he replied while he stepped aside, allowing me to walk back towards the others.

"Sakura-chan, why didn't you let me see you in the dress?!" Naruto whined, his attention away from Hinata so he could focus on me. I smiled at my dark-haired friend, before shrugging at Naruto. "Oh well! Oi, teme." Naruto said, giving his friend a pointed look.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke nod, his gaze serious. I frowned, what could be going on? I smiled politely at Shikamaru who was sitting next to Ino when I met his gaze. I then looked over at Hinata's cousin, and TenTen, who seemed to be in a heated debate about sports. I couldn't really hear what they were saying because of Naruto's loud voice and Ino's abnormal high-pitched voice.

"How long have you been standing here?" I asked, turning towards Sasuke. I walked over to where he was standing before I walked out and took his spot leaning on the wall.

"Not long." Sasuke mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on the wall beside me.

Sasuke's arm brushed against mine and I closed my eyes for a brief second, then opened them again. I met Ino's mischievous gaze and waved nervously at her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke glance towards Ino, then back at me. I shrugged at him, dropped my arm back down to my side and held the bag with my new dress in my hand, a deep blush turned my face red and I used my hair to cover my face.

"Oi, who wants ice cream?!" Naruto shouted suddenly while he jumped to his feet, pulling Hinata up with him. "My treat!"

"Ohh I want an ice cream! c'mon Shika-kun!" Ino shouted happily and I watched as she pulled hard on Shikamaru's arm, pulling him to his feet. Hinata and Naruto had already started to move towards the door, Neji and TenTen followed them, and behind those two were Ino and Shikamaru; they were both carrying Ino's bags. As she passed, she winked at me, I rolled my eyes back at her.

Without another word, Sasuke and I followed everyone out of the store. The group talked loudly, taking up the whole area practically, but Sasuke and I stayed at the back, talking about how boring our morning was and how we ended up getting tagged into going to the mall. When we reached the food court, where the best ice cream store (named Crème Glacée) was, I took a seat at an empty table next to Ino and Shikamaru; Ino was telling Naruto what ice cream she wanted, while Shikamaru just yawned.

Sasuke sat down across from me, being his normal quiet self. "And what do you want Sakura-chan, Teme?"

"Why do you call him teme? It's rude Naruto." I said, sending the blonde a blank stare.

"He's use to it, right teme?!" Naruto laughed, hitting the silent Uchiha playfully on the back of the head, laughing harder when Sasuke shot him a glare.

"_Dobe_." Sasuke growled.

I laughed, smiling at the two. I turned towards Naruto to see him send me a dazzling smile. "I'll have a vanilla ice cream, thanks Naruto."

"I don't eat ice cream."

"What why?" I asked, my brows furrowed. "Everyone loves ice cream."

"Teme doesn't like sweet things." Naruto told me with a shake of his head. He turned around to walk towards Neji and TenTen. I watched his back for a few seconds, then turned back around towards Sasuke, he watched me steadily, but I didn't say anything about the look he was giving me, instead, I put my bag on the ground and placed my hands on the table, and stared tentatively at Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke was a model, I knew that for sure. He had a textbook face, absolutely perfect; with a strong jawline that I was desperate to run my fingers down, his mouth was always pulled down in a frown, but the moments his lips quirked up at the corner in a smirk, just lit up his features so much it was hard to explain. I wanted his lips on mine. Sasuke had a cute aristocratic nose, dark apathetic eyes that were as deep as an abyss; they drew me in; it was like his eyes could look into my soul. Sasuke's hair was longish. It spiked up messily at the back, looking completely natural, it ended just at the nape of his neck; bangs framed his gorgeous face, his hair covered his forehead and slightly went in his eyes.

Although I've spent a lot of time with Sasuke this last week, I didn't really get to admire him. But now that I looked at him sitting in front of my, his arms crossed over his chest and slightly slouching in his chair, I really looked at him. Sasuke had a good figure; he was lean and tall, standing at 6'1, he wasn't bulky, but he didn't lack muscle. I watched fascinated as his biceps flexed, making my heart flutter.

I tore my eyes off of Sasuke body and looked up, meeting his smirking gaze. I blushed, biting my lip, and I wrung my hands. I looked over at Ino who was engrossed with listening to whatever the bored Nara Shikamaru was talking about. I turned my attention to Naruto and Hinata, the latter blushed and the former laughed, throwing his head back, most likely at something the girl across from him said. I then looked at TenTen and Neji, she had waited so long to have a conversation with the Hyuuga, and now that she finally got what she wanted, I knew she wouldn't skip on the chance.

My eye's drifted back towards Sasuke, not really surprised to see him still regarding me with those eyes of his, his oh-so devilish smirk was no longer present, but his lips were in a firm line. The awkward silence between us made my eyes dart towards Ino. She looked at me, then pulled out her phone. She managed to type a rather long message, while listening to Shikamaru talk.

My phone vibrated in my jeans pocket, and I quickly pulled it out. I placed my arms on the table in front of me, leaned forward and swiped at the screen. I put in my password then started reading Ino's message.

You_ will never get anywhere if you sit there and say nothing. I saw you checking him out forehead, why don't you casually ask him if he does taijutsu out of school like Naruto — anything involving physical activity really. Good luck._'

I glanced up at Ino, after I put my phone back in my pocket and smiled at her. She turned to her right and tapped Naruto's shoulder, taking the blondes attention away from Hinata. "Where's our ice cream?!"

"Oh shit! I forgot to go order it!" Naruto shouted. Ino whacked him on the back of the head. "Ow that hurt!" Naruto exclaimed while he rubbed his head.

"Go order it now than!" Ino growled, causing Naruto to apologize to Hinata before he jumped out of his seat, making his way towards the front of the small stall. He zipped past a group of people walking by, before he disappeared.

I turned back to Sasuke with an amused smile on my face. "Naruto is so forgetful." I laughed, shaking my head, while smiling up at Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked and unfolded his arms. He leaned forward in his seat. "He is an idiot. But he's my idiot best friend."

"How did you and Naruto meet?" I asked while I leaned forward in my seat too. I came closer to Sasuke so I could hear him over the loud voices. "I'm curious."

Sasuke intertwined his fingers as he pushed his chair forward. He observed me for a long minute, I swore I could literally see him as he relived the old memories. I smiled inwardly. I just want to pull him close and kiss him. My eyes went down to his mouth and I noticed that he was biting his lip. I gulped. Oh god, if I don't look away from him, I'm going to go insane.

"We met when we were eight. At taijutsu practice." Sasuke muttered, his eyes came back from the past and into the present. "We were rivals at first," he chuckled ever so softly. If I wasn't so close to him, it would have been like he never even made a sound, "but we became friends not long after."

I smiled, my hand instantly stretched out, my fingers brushing the back of his knuckles. I repeated the action a few times, not really sure why the feel of his warm skin made me feel so secure. Sasuke unlocked his intertwined fingers, opening his hand, his palm faced open. I smiled, my index finger drew circles around his palm, up over each of his fingers, over his palm again and over his wrist.

I repeated the actions over and over.

I glanced up at Sasuke, his eyes were cast down. He watched my index finger move around his palm and when my finger began to trace his wrist, he circled his fingers around my wrist. While he turned my hand over so it was like his, I felt a ticklish feeling and that eclectic spark rush over my hand, but I didn't pull away, too mesmerised at Sasuke as he traced my palm, fingers and wrist just as I had done to his hand.

It was weird. I sat in a small ice cream stall at the mall, my hand being traced by Uchiha Sasuke. I still couldn't comprehend our growing connection. I felt like I'd wake up soon and everything would be just a dream. It was a dream that I met Sasuke in the alley at a party and he walked me home, only to disappear into thin air; it was a dream that Sasuke brought be lunch, or that he said he wanted to get to know me better; it was a dream that I was sitting here with him while he traced my palm with his fingers.

The soft and gentle touch on my palm suddenly stopped and I inwardly cursed myself for zoning out. Sasuke's fingers curled around my hand, he held it tight, like he was afraid I'd run away if he didn't have a hold of it. His grip was a bit tight, but I said nothing; just stared at him passively while I waited for him to speak.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, Naruto appeared practically out of nowhere.

"Here's your vanilla ice cream Sakura-chan!" Naruto interrupted as he shoved my ice cream in front of me. There was about a scoop and a half of vanilla in a small blue plastic tub, and a plastic spoon was given to me not even two seconds later. "Sorry it took so long."

"Thank you Naruto." I smiled up at the blonde, sincerity sparkled in my emerald orbs.

"No problem!" he exclaimed, then he walked over the Neji and TenTen.

I looked back over at Sasuke, then down at my ice cream. I got a spoon full of ice cream and shoved it in my mouth. One after the other. Sasuke watched me as I devoured my ice cream, but I didn't really care. When I had finished I leaned back in my chair and stared at Sasuke coolly, a smile on my face.

"Did you enjoy watching me eat ice cream?" I asked, amusement laced in my otherwise monotone voice.

Sasuke smirked. "It was very entertaining."

"Well, I'm glad I can entertain you." I smiled brightly at Sasuke. I stood up and walked the short distance to the trashbin, feeling Sasuke's eyes on my body the whole time. When I made it back to the table, I twiddled my fingers not really sure what to say.

Something hit the side of my arm and I whirled around to see Ino glaring at me. I frowned at her, not really sure on what I did wrong. "What did I tell you to do, forehead?!" she shouted, pointing to my phone. My emerald eyes lit up and my mouth opened, a muffled sound of understanding leaving my mouth. I turned towards Sasuke whole raised a slender eyebrow at me.

"Anyway, you were telling me you met Naruto at taijutsu practice. I know Naruto still does it, but do you?" I asked, hoping that my voice sounded casual and not shaky. I've never really been good with talking to people — talking to boys was worse, and this boy sitting in front of me, just happened to be Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked, his dark eyes glinted, like he knew what I was trying to do. He nodded his head once, before he leaned forward in his chair once again. "My father hired me a personal trainer when I turned fourteen."

"Are you any good?" I asked.

"Nine years of training, I better be." he mumbled, smirking up at me.

I laughed, not really sure what I was supposed to say to him. My eyes darted over to TenTen and Neji and I smiled at them. They looked awfully cute together and it looked like their conversation was going perfectly fine. My eyes then went to Ino and Shikamaru, I could just hear as they had a heated debate over something minor; and finally, I looked at Naruto and Hinata, the later was blushing profusely, while the former anxiously and worriedly placed the back of his hand on her forehead.

I glanced back over at Sasuke and smiled. "Our friends look like they're enjoying their time." I giggled, pushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

Sasuke looked around the crowded, noisy area, his eyes darting to where TenTen and Neji were, to Ino and Shikamaru, then to Hinata and Naruto, then back to me. "Aa."

"Okay, first it was the grunting, now it's 'aa'" I made the same sound Sasuke just did, a teasing smile on my face. I laughed when he rolled his eyes, sending me a mock glare.

"I-Ino, I need to go home. Father w-wishes me to get ready for o-our family dinner tonight." Hinata's timid voice caught my attention. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. I saw Neji and TenTen walk towards Ino and Shikamaru's table.

"As do I." Neji said.

Ino turned towards TenTen and said girl just shrugged, Ino then looked at me and just like TenTen did, I shrugged. I was enjoying my time here with Sasuke but by the way the crowd was shrinking in the food court, I knew that it was getting late. I drowned out Ino and turned back to Sasuke. His obsidian eyes shone with something I couldn't quite place. I stood up grabbed my bag, and tapped his shoulder affectionately. I muttered a 'bye' to Sasuke before I followed behind Ino, TenTen and Hinata.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

I sat at the kitchen table and took a bite out of my onigiri. My mother was sitting across from me, picking at the ingredients in her udon. She had made heaps of different food for us to eat and most of it will probably be put into a bento for school tomorrow. The rare times I got to actually enjoy mother's cooking, I treasured. Normally her and my Dad would be arguing with each other, but tonight, they sat awkwardly and silently at the table. They avoided each others gaze and focused mostly on their food. I wanted to ask if anything happened while I was out, but I kept my mouth shut, although the silence was awkward, I would rather have that then them yelling at each other.

I picked up another onigiri. Today I only ate that ice cream Naruto had bought for me, so I was absolutely famished.

I had a lot of fun today. Although Ino made me buy a dress, — which was now in the back of my closet — and the unexpected meeting with Sasuke, Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru, I had a great time chatting with Sasuke and watching my friends have a great time themselves. Nothing made me happier than to see the people I love be happy.

I enjoyed the time I spent with Sasuke, he was great company to have and even though I was still flustered around him, I felt a little more time and I could become comfortable in Sasuke's dominate presence and finally let go of trying to be perfect to live up to his God-like qualities and just be myself. Sasuke intimidated me greatly, but there was this thing that he did that just made me not so scared of him and his ever looming existence.

I_ have many secrets that I can't tell you about Sakura. Secrets that you can't know; that could put you and everyone you know in danger._' Sasuke's words from earlier this week came to mind. I hadn't really thought about it much, but now that I let the thought register in my head, an uneasy feeling coursed through my body, it made me put down my half eaten onigiri and stare at it with disdain on my face.

What kinda secrets can Sasuke have that could be so bad? Maybe it has something to do with the family business? I should google about the Uchiha incorporation, see if I can pick up some records. I turned towards my dad who had just finished swallowing the last of his soba.

"Hey Dad, what can you tell me about the Uchiha incorporation?" I asked. I'm not sure if my words sounded as casual as I thought they did, but all my dad did was stare at me confused before he turned to look at my mother. He turned back to me when he only got a shrug.

"They're wealthy business people. Uchiha Fugaku is the head of the company and he has his hands in a lot of things." Dad pushed his empty plate away so he could rest his folded arms on the table. "They're the head of the police force here in Konohagakure. They also have companies set out worldwide."

I nodded. "What type of business are they in? I know they also fund hospitals; the hospital here in Konohagakure, the one in Yukigakure, Amegakure and Kirigakure, but do they only focus on the medical and police industry?" I raised an eyebrow. If the Uchiha work in the police force, I probably won't be able to get my friend to hack into the files on their mainframe to get information on them because the Uchiha will most likely be guarded. Then again, he was pretty amazing at his craft.

"No, they have a foot in retail. Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Fugaku's wife, owns many of the stores here in Konohagakure, and if it wasn't for her, Hoshigakure and Soragakure, Konohagakure would be in a lot of debt with those towns." Dad paused for a moment, and glanced over at Mum, probably asking for her to help him out.

I heard Mum sigh from my right and I turned towards her. "They own many jewelry stores over in America, they also fund the transport and trading system from within Japan to places like Australia, America and Sweden." she paused and shook her head while she pushed her chair back and got out of her seat. "If it wasn't for the Uchiha Incorporation, Japan would probably be in ruin."

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

"_Sakura, you should just man up and ask him out!_"

"_No, Ino, sh-she needs to t-take it slowly._"

"_Don't listen to 'em girl, just jump him, alright?_"

I sighed for the umpteenth time in the last hour. Ino had suggested on the way home that we should have one of our 'late night four-way phone calls'. I thought it was a good idea, considering we haven't done that in a while, but no, Ino had to strike up about what happened today. I enjoyed listening to Ino and TenTen and Hinata talk about how much they enjoyed their day, — I like to know my friends are happy — but when the topic turns from them to me, I hate it.

"I'm _not_ going to jump him, TenTen. Besides, I don't even like Sasuke that way."

"_You're a liar!_" Ino shouted into the phone.

"_Don't kid yourself, hun._"

I sighed and shook my head at my friends. I knew for a fact that I _didn't_ like Sasuke _that_ way. He's my friend I suppose, plus we've known each other a week; and just because I get that tingly feeling and my heart races every time I see him or touch him, doesn't mean I like him. Like, c'mon, he's very attractive and he's rich and popular and I had to admit, it would be nice to be hanging off the arm of a God.

"Even if I did, he wouldn't return my feelings anyway." I mumbled. I got off the bed and walked over to my widow and sat down on the window seat, looking down onto the dark and quiet street.

"_I-I think he does, Sakura-chan._" Hinata said, and I could faintly hear her as she shifted in her spot. "_He s-spends a lot of t-time with you._"

"_Hinata's right!_" TenTen shouted, and I had to pull the phone away from my ear or I'd go deaf. "_I can see that look in his eyes._"

"What look?" I growled, annoyed. "There is_ no look_. We're friends, Sasuke and I will probably never go any further than that."

"_You don't see what we see, forehead._" Ino cut in, her voice firm and when she used that tone, it meant you were in for a lecture. I gulped. "_It's not everyday we get the opportunity to have this chance at having hot senior boyfriends!_" she exclaimed and I could imagine her smiling. "_Don't let it slip._"

I let Ino's words sink into my head. She's right. I only have one chance at this. If Ino, TenTen and Hinata believe that Sasuke could return my feelings, it's got to mean something. I nodded my head vigorously even though I knew they couldn't see it. I smirked to myself, remembering that day Sasuke and I almost kissed out the front of my house. I hadn't told the girls because I was afraid, but I might as well tell them now.

"I forgot to tell you guys, but the day Sasuke first walked me home, he almost kiss—"

"_WHAT?! WHY AM I JUST HEARING ABOUT THIS NOW?!_" Ino shouted, her voice so loud it sounded like a banshee.

"_I-if that's not say-saying something Sakura-chan, I don't know w-what will._"

"Well my Mum told me to get Sasuke off of 'her driveway'... so it didn't actually happened." I mumbled, a blush forming on my face.

"_Girl, this is big!_" TenTen let out an uncharacteristically girly giggle. "_He actually wanted to kiss you. That says everything!_"

"_You gotta tell us everything!_"

I told Hinata, TenTen and Ino how we were walking home and Sasuke brought up me punching Karin and then how I lamely started talking about the colour of my hair, how Sasuke got really close to me and that he was playing with my hair and how he leaned in and so did I. I told them how we were so close to having our lips meet and my mother screams out the window that I have to get _'that boy'_ off of her driveway — Ino laughed at that, which made TenTen laugh then Hinata giggled and feeling left out I started to laugh so it turned into a one big laughing fest until Hinata's father said Hinata had to get off of the phone go to bed.

I said good night before hanging up my phone and putting it on charge before I got into bed. I pulled the covers up over my shoulders, enjoying the warmth. I reached over and turned off my light, falling a sleep to thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

**Author's Note:** _Finally, done. _

_This was a bit more of a filler chapter of sorts. __I can't really say much without giving away the central plot, and I have a habit of giving you guys snips of information that I really shouldn't, but I enjoy increasing your curiosity of the story... so it's kinda worth it. _

_Now, important note, next chapter is going to be very plot heavy, so next Sunday you should really read over everything carefully or you won't really get anything that's going on. It took me a while to write chapter five only because I had to be very selective of what you guys find out. _

_If you have any questions, please ask. Also, on my profile is the link to my , don't hesitate to ask me a question about _anything_ and I'll answer as fast as I can. _

_So anyway, Ja ne lovelies! _


	6. The Uchiha

**Author's Note: **_Hi everyone! How have you all been? _

_So this chapter is very plot heavy and is the most important chapter as of date. I recommend that when you read this chapter of Windswept you're not distracted. I spent about four hours writing and re-writing this chapter because I didn't want to hit you guys with heaps of information all at once. It doesn't reveal anything that can't be explained in chapters to come, so don't freak out if you don't understand what Sasuke is yet, because I know you're all probably busting to know what he is. But I have revealed a snip of information about it, so look out for it. _

_This chapter also introduces a new character, and as a side note, I _will_ be introducing Tsunade in later, I just need to find the right time to throw her into the fray. I'm actually trying to put in as many Naruto character's as possible and not have OC's, you know, after all, this is a Naruto fanfic. :)_

_Sorry for any grammar and/or spelling mistakes! _

**Disclaimer: **Since I haven't done a disclaimer yet, here it is now. I do not own Naruto or any other character that is mentioned in this story except my OC's. All information used within belongs to many websites that I spent countless hours searching for. The plot is the only thing I own.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

**Chapter Five: The Uchiha**

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

I stared at the phone in my hand, my mind was trying to come up with reasons on why I had every right to do this, but all I could think about was how I _didn't_ have any good reasons at all. I'm not sure what I was hoping to gain from this phone call, but I needed more information than the little that I had received; I have to know _more_.

I've always hated being in the dark about things, it frustrated me to no end when people knew something big that I didn't. I wasn't the type of person who had to be up in other peoples business, _only_ when it concerned me or my friends. But this situation is unique, it involved both me, my friends _and_ my family, because if what Sasuke said was true, and the constant warning's Naruto gave me, I needed to know what I was getting myself into being friends with Sasuke.

I don't like having to keep secrets from people, it made me feel like a liar, so I certainly did not like secrets being kept from me. In all honesty, I don't have the guts to actually ask people questions that help me to understand them better because I don't think I could handle it if they shut me out, or got so seriously mad at me they were planning a hundred and two ways to torture and kill me; so the idea of asking Sasuke what he meant by 'secrets' seemed like a stupid idea, and his family is pretty powerful in Japan... who's to say he won't get his parents to ruin my life..?

Taking a deep breath, I pressed the ten digit number into my phone and put it on loudspeaker, placing it down beside my Macbook. I wrung my hands anxiously as I listened to it ring, once.. twice.. three times.. before the person on the other end answered, his apathetic and emotionless voice sounding loud in my quiet room.

"Sakura?"

"Hey Sai," I said, smiling softly. I haven't talked to Sai since the beginning of the year, I felt bad that I had to call him after so long on business involving some other guy. I have known Sai for about five years, and he's an exceptional painter, but he also had the smarts and skill to be a great hacker, I've never actually asked him to hack into anything for me before, so I was a little worried he'd reject or ask too many questions as to _why_ I wanted him to do this for me.

"It's been awhile since I've talked to you." he said, his emotionless voice sounding softer than it normally did. "What's up with the unexpected phone call?"

I gulped. "I actually wanted to ask you for a favour, if you don't mind." I mumbled, biting my bottom lip. "I need you to hack into the Uchiha Incorporation files." I hoped my voice came out strong and confident. "It would also help if you could get personal information on the Uchiha family, send them to my computer and make sure either of us don't get caught." I continued. "They're head of the police department here in Konohagakure, they're smart too."

There was a short silence on the other end, before a grunt I would've missed if I wasn't paying attention came from my phone before I heard typing on a keyboard. I turned to my Macbook and turned it on, waiting rather impatiently for all the files to show up.

"I'm not going to ask why you're doing this, Sakura." Sai said, his voice hard and serious. "But the both of us could get in trouble. I'm pretty good with making sure no one finds out anything, but just incase, I want you to have a backup and if you come under _any_ suspicion, call me and I'll wipe everything off your computer."

I smiled at my longtime friend and nodded my head even if he couldn't see it. "Thank you so much for this, Sai."

"You're welcome, Sakura." The line went dead.

Taking a deep breath, I turned towards my computer, gulping at all one hundred and fifty files. I vaguely noticed that Sai even went to lengths to pull medical records and the family tree. I spent about three hours going through all the files, sorting them into separate folders to make it easier for me to go through them. I didn't read any of them, I wanted to make sure I knew where everything was before I went through anything.

So once I was done putting everything into smaller, easier-to-go-through folders, it was around five o'clock. I put the charger in my computer when I was notified it had ten percent left and made myself comfortable at my desk. I clicked on the first folder labeled 'Business'. I thought it'd be a good idea to see how far the timeline went back, what deals and all the Uchiha had made that could put them into any trouble or debt. I came up with nothing of the sort, but found out the Uchiha had made a deal with the head of Otogakure Council about a decade ago to help stop crime in the rather small town. Other than that, nothing else was worth my time.

Going over to the next folder labeled 'Medical History', I frowned. The Uchiha have been in a lot of medical trouble, but had managed to pay off all their debt. I found a file from nine years back, where all four members of the Uchiha were in the hospital being treated for serious injuries: Uchiha Mikoto was out for a week with head injury but made a full recovery; Uchiha Fugaku was unconscious for three days due to blunt force trauma to the back of the head; Uchiha Itachi had blunt force trauma to his chest, open wounds on his arms, legs and back, and he had a broken leg; Uchiha Sasuke had about fifty open flesh wounds on his back and shoulders, his right arm was fractured and he suffered serious abdominal trauma.

"Holy shit." I mumbled, bring a hand up to my mouth. I felt tears sting at the corner of my eyes. Who would want to do that? Sasuke was about eight years old! who the hell could hurt an eight year old? What the bloody hell happened to them?! My mind went back to the deal the Uchiha made with the head of Otogakure Council ten years ago. Could the Otogakure Council have something to do with the Uchiha's hospitalization? I shook my head, no. They only made a deal to help stop the crime circulating in Oto, why would Oto want to attack them?

I pressed on another medical file, and two years worth of more hospitalizations was laid out in front of me.

_December 29, 2004,_  
_Patient id: Uchiha Sasuke_  
_DOB: 23, July, 1996_  
_Rm: 107_  
_Blood Type: AB_  
_Cause of Hospitalization: Self-injury_  
_Additional Information:  
_  
_Patient entered Konohagakure Hospital after trying to give himself a lobotomy. Has lost a large amount of blood but is not seriously injured. Is under suicide watch._

_May 10, 2005,_  
_Patient id: Uchiha Itachi_  
_DOB: 8, June 1991_  
_Rm: 110_  
_Blood Type: AB_  
_Cause of Hospitalization: Minor stab wound_  
_Additional Information:  
_  
_Patient entered Konohagakure Hospital after being stabbed in the lower abdomen. Had five stitches._

_May 30, 2005_  
_Patient id: Uchiha Sasuke_  
_DOB: 23, July, 1996_  
_Rm: 107_  
_Blood Type: AB_  
_Cause of Hospitalization: Broken leg_  
_Additional Information:  
_  
_Patient entered Konohagakure Hospital after breaking his leg due to falling out of a tree. Has a few scrapes and bruises. Spending night in hospital in case of concussion._

Twenty more similar cases over two years followed after those. Uchiha Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha were hospitalized the most; Sasuke due to self-harm and Itachi (who I now know is Sasuke's older brother) for many 'accidents' that involved getting stitches or needing serious medical attention due to blood loss. I couldn't believe half of what I was reading.

I couldn't read the next medical file, so I went to the next labeled folder named 'Uchiha Family Tree'. There was nothing special in there, but some names had words that I could just make out next to them, 'Drifter Gene'... whatever that meant. I realized after going through the family tree again, that at least half of the names on the list had 'drifter gene' written next to their names. Uchiha Fugaku, Mikoto, Itachi and Sasuke all had this written next to their name.

"What the hell is a drifter gene?" I asked no one in particular. My eyebrows furrowed in a frown.

I got out of that file and scowled down the list of folders until I got to one labeled 'Uchiha Sasuke' and clicked on it. I was getting a little annoyed that all I had managed to find was serious hospital records and only one lead — that I wasn't even sure of — that could explain why Sasuke and Naruto were so serious about me becoming friends with Sasuke. I also found something unexplainable in the family tree that I was very curious about, but other than that, this was turning out to be fruitless.

When the file on Sasuke finally loaded, I sighed in relief. I shifted in my place and began to read what was on Sasuke's file.

_Full Name: Uchiha Sasuke_  
_DOB: July 23rd, 1996_  
_Blood Type: AB_  
_Location: Konohagakure, Japan_  
_Immediate Family: Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Itachi_  
_Occupation: Student_  
_General Appearance: (as of January 2013) Height: 6'1 Weight: 52.2 kg Skin Colour: Alabaster, fair, pale Hair Colour: Black Eye Colour: Obsidian_  
_Social Ranking: High-status_  
_Any Permanent Physical Injuries: Eyes_  
_Mental Health: MDD_

Reading over the abbreviation 'MDD' three or four times, I tried to come up with the words that go with it. After five minutes of thinking, I sighed, getting onto the internet so I could google what it means. I typed in MDD and tapped my fingers against my desk impatiently, waiting for something to come up. A few seconds later, many sites came up for 'MDD' but I decided to click on the first one.

_**Major Depressive Disorder** also known as **MDD**, is characterized by a combination of symptoms that interfere with a person's ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. MDD affects your mood, body, behavior, and mind to impact all aspects of your life. No one knows exactly what causes major depression, though most experts believe it's due to chemical changes in the brain triggered by your genes; stressful events, such as the death of loved one, job loss, or divorce; or a combination of the two. Substance abuse and poor sleep can play role, too, as can certain medical conditions, such as an underactive thyroid.'_

I read over the words a few more times, my eyebrows furrowed. I may have only known Sasuke personally for about a week, but it didn't seem like he had depression at all. I mean, I knew he was always cold and silent and distant, doesn't like talking about himself much, but I just thought that was the way Uchiha Sasuke was; I didn't know it had to do with depression. He must hide it pretty well.. maybe he's on meds?

_'When you're depressed, you expect to feel sad, blue, or down in the dumps — a state known as **dysphoria**. You may also suffer from **anhedonia**, which is a lack of interest or pleasure in almost all activities, most of the day. These are two hallmarks of be diagnosed with major depression, also known as major depressive disorder (MDD) and clinical depression, you must experience at least five depressive symptoms from the following list, including dysphoria and anhedonia. These symptoms must be present most of the day, nearly every day for at least two weeks:_

_Depressed mood_  
_Loss of interest, particularly in activities you typically enjoy_  
_Significant weight loss or gain_  
_Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much_  
_Feeling restless, agitated, irritable, unable slow down_  
_Fatigue, loss of energy, or feeling tired all the time_  
_Feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness or guilt_  
_Impaired concentration and difficulty making decisions_  
_Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide'_

Frowning I read over the list of symptoms. I pulled at the draw closest to me in my desk and pulled out pen and paper, my eyes scanning over the symptoms again as I began writing down the ones I've notice with Sasuke.

_Depressed mood, restless, agitated, irritable mood... recurrent thoughts of death and suicide._

I looked at the last symptom written on the paper, my frown deepened. That must be the reason Sasuke tried to give himself a lobotomy and all the other self-harm acts he did to land himself in the hospital; he must have been trying to kill himself..but why? What could make an eight year old boy think about dying? Was it because of what happened? I mean, I'd be pretty depressed too if my family and I were put in the hospital after suffering serious injuries like they did, but I don't understand why someone would want to attack the Uchiha family.

What exactly did those four go through?

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

Walking into school the following Monday, I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders. I had so much on my mind, I actually found it very hard to get off to sleep last night. My mind just kept whirling over all the possibilities from the information I learnt about Sasuke and his family. I hadn't managed to read all of it, but I had a list of things in my pocket that I needed to look up, so today I was going to go to the library during break and see what I could dig up.

I felt bad about doing this behind Sasuke back. It really wasn't any of my business to go through his family's personal information, but I had to do it so I know exactly what I'm getting myself into. That wasn't really the case though, I suppose, everything didn't really make much sense to me, and I had a feeling only Sasuke could tell me what happened. However, I wasn't planning on saying anything to him about this. I knew once I laid eyes upon him, I'd probably start crying and the sad thing about that would be that I wouldn't even be able to tell anyone _why_ I was crying. I'd probably have to come up with some excuse, some _lie_.

God, I'm such a bad person.

I was also worried about the fact that I could slip up and ruin everything. What if I accidentally said something to Sasuke about it and he got mad at me and made me delete everything then tell me to never speak to him again? I knew that's what he'd probably do, so I have to keep up a front and hopefully I won't spill anything out and when Sasuke and I are close enough friends, he'd tell me what happened to him and his family.

Konoha High was buzzing with activity when I entered, I had to push my way through the crowd of people to get into the building. I don't know how people could be so happy in the morning. I always hated getting out of my warm bed in the morning and stepping out into the cold. I'd prefer to stay where it's warm and comfortable. However, if I wanted to survive in this world, I had to get up and get an education. I knew everyone had to do it, and TenTen made sure she was the freaking advocate for every student in the world that didn't like school, because she sure complained about it a lot.

Walking down the crowded hall, I pushed a traitor strand of hair out of my face and pushed it behind my ear. Today I chose to put my hair up in a ponytail, but because my hair was short, lots of strands kept falling out. I had my normal jeans on, a plain blue t-shirt and my favourite pair of black knee-high lace-up combat boots. I chose not to bring my hoodie today, because it's _suppose_ to be warm, but I should have listened to my gut because as soon as I stepped outside I nearly froze, but couldn't have been bothered to go back inside my house to get my hoodie.

Hinata usually lent me hers if I got too cold.

Speaking of Hinata, her swimming lessons with Naruto are supposed to start this afternoon. I hope everything goes well with her and Naruto, they'd make such a cute couple. I think Hinata deserves a nice guy like Naruto, and Naruto deserves a sweet girl like Hinata. They were such a cute match; Naruto's bubbly, outgoing attitude and Hinata's shy but kind persona just clashed. Like they say: opposites attract, and those two are definitely opposites.

Suddenly, someone grabbed the arm and pulled me into an empty classroom. I was thrown to the floor, my left arm taking all of my weight and I hit the hard floor. I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my arm, I looked around and saw that the room was dark, but I could just make out all the desks and chairs. In front of me, I heard the lock on the door, and then the light switch was turned on, the bright luminescence momentarily blinding me.

Holding up my arm to block the light, I waited for my vision to focus, three figures came into my view not even a second later and a string of not-so-lady-like curses flew past my lips.

I pushed myself up off the ground and glowered at the figures of Karin and her minions standing in front of me. What the bloody hell do that want with me now? Maybe Karin was tryna get payback because I punched her in the face last week..? Hmm, now that I think about, her black eye hadn't fully healed yet. I snickered inwardly.

I sighed loudly. "What do you want, Karin?"

"I want to warn you, you pink-haired bitch." she snapped, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at me.

"Mmhmm, like I haven't heard that one before.." I muttered, while I fixed but my messenger bag that had started to dig into my chest. I wasn't really worried about Karin and her minions doing anything to me, they were as harmless as a butterfly.

"I want you to stay the hell away from Sasuke, he's _mine_." she said, stepping closer to me. I looked down at her, one eyebrow raised. Is she threatening me? "I don't know what Sasuke sees in you." she said airily, eyes scanning me up and down.

I glared. "Maybe he sees a challenge." I growled. "Because unlike _some people_, I don't sleep with everyone I make eye contact with."

Where the _hell_ did that come from?

I've always been the silent hater type, I never really said what I thought out loud about someone. My mother told me when I was a kid, I shouldn't say anything if it wasn't nice. However, it seemed that rule went out the freaking window when Karin was around, she deserved to have her head snapped off and her ego shot down because she isn't as great as she thinks she is. I honestly had no idea why I was being brave and standing up to her, but I think I like it.

Karin didn't say anything to me for a minute, and neither did the two other girls in the room. All I could hear was our breathing and the sound of the chatter from out in the hall. The bell was going to go soon, so whatever Karin wanted to say to me, she better get it over with quickly, but a teacher would be here soon to open up the classroom.

Karin's face suddenly twisted into a look that I could vaguely translate into anger and embarrassment; her face turned as red as her hair and her cheeks puffed out. I would've laughed at her, but I thought it'd be best to keep my mouth shut.

Suddenly, a hand connected with my cheek and a sinking _smack_ resounded around the once quiet room. My head turn sharply to the left and my cheek throbbed from the force of the hit. I turned my head to face Karin, my mouth open in surprise. I held my chin, not daring to touch my sore cheek. There's probably a massive red hand print there and it stung like hell.

"You will stay the hell away from Sasuke because he's _mine_." Karin roared, her hands on her hips, her beady red eyes glowering at me. "He's in love with _me_ and if you don't back off, I'll make sure your life is a living hell!"

Chuckling, I stared down at Karin, then I glared at her minions who cowered back against the wall, watching as Karin and I clash. "You know they say you are what you eat, so maybe you should lay off the nuts." With that out into the open, I stormed passed Karin and towards the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. I slammed it behind me and glowered angrily at the people who stopped what they were doing to stare at me.

What the hell is wrong with her? I don't understand why she hates me so much, Sasuke and I will never be more than friends and even if we did become more, it wouldn't last long, because we're not even meant to be. I can't see Sasuke having any romantic feelings for me at all so it didn't even matter if I wanted more..

_Do_ I want more from Sasuke than just his friendship? _Did_ I want to be more to Uchiha Sasuke? _Did_ I want Uchiha Sasuke to be more to me?

This is so confusing.

Someone grabbed my arm and that electrocuted feeling raged throughout my body, making me stop in my tracks. I felt my body heat up, and tears well in my eyes, because I knew who was holding my arm; only one person could make me feel that spark, and quite honestly, that person was the last one I wanted to see right now.

What am I going to do? I'm not ready to face Sasuke yet, even though I had just spent ten minutes of my time defending our friendship, talking about him was a lot easier than actually seeing him and talking to him.

I bit my lip as I turned around to look at him, my eyes cast slightly down, but I could still see his face. Not sure what I was supposed to do, I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from falling. I shook my head a few times, a sudden wave of sorrow and pity took over me, my mind conjured a scared, depressed eight year old Sasuke trying to give himself a lobotomy. I bit my lip harder when a single tear ran down my cheek.

Fingers gripped my chin, making me look up into the pretty obsidian eyes of Uchiha Sasuke. "Shh, hey," he said softly, wiping my tears away with his thumb. I released my lip, tasting blood in my mouth.

I couldn't even look at him.

I pulled myself away from Sasuke, quickly running down the hall. I didn't stop running until I sat down on the small bench at the top of the school building, the fresh scent of all the flowers in the mini-open greenhouse filled my lungs. I gripped the edge of the bench, more tears flowing down my cheeks.

What the hell is wrong with me? I thought I'd be able to handle it.. I thought I'd be able to look at Sasuke and not shed traitor tears of pity for him, for his family, for everything they've been through.. but I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was.. I didn't even have to look at his face, all it took was to know he was there, standing in front of me, holding my arm like he did it all the time.

I was so _stupid_ for looking into his family's personal information. It was such a bad idea. I was so _stupid_ for reading through all the hospital files. I was so _stupid_ for reading Sasuke personal file. I was so damn _stupid_ for thinking I'd be able to be around Sasuke and not think about all the horrible things he's been through. I was such an _idiot_ for thinking I could be friends with Uchiha Sasuke without any consequences. I was so _stupid_ for thinking..

..I am so stupid for thinking Sasuke might actually feel something for me.

_I was so stupid for letting this week of knowing Sasuke get to me._

"Sakura."

Swirling around to look behind me, more tears fell from my emerald orbs. Sasuke walked closer to me and sat down, heat radiating from him in waves. I wanted to lean in closer to that warmth, but used all my willpower to keep myself firmly in my spot.

I wrung my hands out of nervous habit, my heart launching in my chest so painfully I felt like it was going to stop any minute now. I couldn't breath properly, all the air I was trying to get into my lungs just wouldn't enter. I need to get a grip. I need to calm down. I need to stop. I took a big deep breath, relieved when all of it went into my lungs, my emerald orbs were closed tightly as I let out my breath and took another one, feeling my tears stop and calm radiate throughout me.

When I was sure I could actually look at Sasuke and not start bawling my eyes out again, I opened my eyes and turned towards Sasuke. He looked at me, concern written all over his face. I suddenly felt guilty for running off on him like that. I probably left him confused because I was crying. My hand came up to my right cheek and rubbed the red stop, that hand print probably looks as bad as it feels.

Karin sure did a number on me in just one swing of her hand.

"I'm sorry for running off on you, Sasuke." I said, taking off my messenger bag and placing it on the ground by my feet. Feeling like I needed to explain, I told him the first thing that came to mind. I pointed to my cheek and laughed nervously. "Karin sure did a number on my face, huh?"

Sasuke remained silent. I saw him frown out of the corner of my eye, staring straight at the bright red hand print on my face. I smiled sadly at him. "She thought she'd give me a 'good talking to' since she was interrupted last time." I laughed slightly. "I don't understand her, she's so adamant on catching your attention its bordering on obsession." I poked his side. "If you don't be careful, you'll wake up in her basement one day."

Sasuke chuckled, shaking his head. "It almost happened once." he said seriously, shaking his head at the memory.

"What, are you serious?" I laughed.

"Yeah." he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "She somehow snuck into my house and tried to drug me." I gasped, but inwardly laughed. "She has a criminal record now, all stalking assaults."

"What a crazy bitch." I muttered, anger suddenly taking over any sad feelings I had earlier. "I think Karin needs some help." I muttered, pulling out my ponytail and shaking my head, my pink hair cascading over my shoulders and slightly covering my face. I pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear and reached over to pick one of the red roses in a small plant pot next to the bench. I brought it up to my nose and took in the scent.

I turned back towards Sasuke to see him regarding me cooly with those eyes of his. I wanted to cry again, embrace him and tell him that depression is something he doesn't have to face alone and that I'm here if he ever needs to talk to me. I knew I couldn't though, not yet.

"Do you believe in love, Sasuke?" I suddenly asked as I placed the red rose in his hand. I stared at him expectantly as he blinked.

"I suppose." he said, staring at me with a hazed look in his eyes. "Do you?"

I shrugged, looking away. "I guess I do. I mean, it can show up anywhere, at any time, with anyone." I looked back over at Sasuke. "But we spend our time searching for security, and hate it when we get it."

He nodded his head, then he smirked at me, his obsidian eyes sparkling with mischief. He stood up and held a hand out for me to take.

"Come."

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

**Author's Note: **_Phew, all done!_

_Please leave your thoughts in the form of a review, I love getting them! _

_Also, there will be _**no update**_ next Sunday as I've hit writers block and I wanna stay at least five or six chapters ahead and I'm only four chapters in front right now. So, no update next Sunday, but I will update the Sunday after that. So I will update: Sunday the twenty-fourth of November, 2013. _

_Again, PLEASE REVIEW?! ...if you want.._

_Ja ne lovelies. _


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